Many solicitors have undoubtedly contemplated swapping the pressures of life in private practice for a job on the bench. Now is the time to seize the opportunity.


Historically, solicitors have felt ambivalent about judicial careers. This is perhaps unsurprising, since it was only three years ago that the government's own watchdog, tasked with paving the way for the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), revealed 'a systematic bias' against women, ethnic minorities, and solicitors. Some solicitors have felt that they would be overlooked in the 'secret soundings' process, others that they would be forever stuck in the lower rungs of the judiciary without prospect of promotion; some no doubt believed they did not have the advocacy skills compared to barrister counterparts, or maybe (as was the case with Peter Cook's comic character EL Wisty) that their Latin was not sufficiently up to scratch.



But now the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and the JAC are falling over themselves to get the message out about an all-new inclusive judiciary that positively welcomes solicitors. 'Solicitors across the country have a wealth of talent and experience to draw on. Increasing the number of solicitors applying for judicial appointment will help contribute to a more diverse judiciary,' Harriet Harman, solicitor and government minister responsible for judicial diversity, has said. She was hosting an event at City law firm Simmons & Simmons to spread the word. That occasion marked the official launch of a 'five-point plan' to encourage law firms to promote applications for fee-paid judicial office (as opposed to salaried posts) and promote judicial shadowing as part of the solicitors' continuing professional development.



The JAC has been up and running for six months now, appointing judges below High Court level. It set itself three main goals for that period - first, to define 'merit' (in other words, what makes a good judge) for the new transparent system; second, to devise a process of appointments for the High Court bench; and, third, to develop a strategy to widen the pool of applicants. 'And that's relevant for solicitors,' explains Baroness Prashar, the commission's chairwoman. 'Traditionally, judges at the senior level have been drawn mainly from the bar because there was a view that you've got to be an advocate to be a judge,' she continues. 'We have ensured that that myth is now destroyed. We are working with a whole range of organisations to get the message across.'



While the judicial appointments process is entering a new era, there is clearly some work to be done in terms of making the bench more representative of society. For example, of the 37 Appeal Court judges, only three are women, with none from ethnic minorities, and of the 108 High Court judges, only 11 are women and, shockingly, only one comes from an ethnic minority background.



'We are starting from a pretty low base,' acknowledges the Baroness. 'It is not a good record. Obviously, one of our roles is not only to appoint by merit but also to widen the pool from which judges are drawn. Previously, people were put off from applying because they felt, rightly or wrongly, that judges were drawn from a magic circle and it depended upon whom you knew, or the tap on the shoulder or secret soundings. All that's going to go and there is going to be a fair and open competition, which will be transparent and assessed against objective criteria.'



This month, the first competition for High Court judges under the new system has been launched (see [2006] Gazette, 26 October, 1), and advertisements for the recruitment round - which will select 25 High Court judges - will be going into the national and legal specialist press, including the Gazette. For solicitors who are tempted, minimum entry criteria for the post is either ten years of High Court rights of audience, or a minimum of two years spent as a circuit judge. Salaries start at £162,000.



The Baroness has streamlined the application process, with the old application form slashed from 29 pages to just nine. She explains that one of the main complaints about the old system was 'how cumbersome the framework was and how lengthy and forbidding the application form was'.



She adds: 'In terms of qualities and abilities, [the previous DCA process required] nine "competencies" with something like over 50 supporting statements sought. We have reduced this to five competencies with 17 supporting statements. So it's simpler and I hope more welcoming to applicants.'



A selection panel of commissioners will consider High Court applications, comprising Baroness Prashar, Lord Justice Auld and Sara Nathan (also a member of the board of Ofcom, the communications regulator). 'When we advertise, there is a printed list of the qualities and capabilities we are after,' she says. 'It is going to be absolutely clear what the process is going to be and there will be a lot more transparency. For example, at High Court appointment level, previously there was automatic consultation, now we have replaced that with both commission-nominated and candidate-nominated referees.'



So why would a solicitor make the journey from law firm to bench? District Judge Stephen Gold, who sits at Kingston County Court, was in general practice in Hampshire for more than 26 years before becoming a full-time judge. 'I thought I had a pretty exciting life,' he said. 'I thought all was well but I am bound to say that life as a district judge surpasses that.' How so? 'As a private practitioner, one is so often striving to give fairness and justice to the client and one inevitably gets frustrated when things don't go the way you'd wish them. You might think that a decision was perverse or plainly mad, but as a judge you can be really effective insofar as you can do something about it,' he says. 'The frustration factor is largely removed.'



District Judge Charles Newman, who sits at Chester County Court, adds: 'Bluntly put, it's a better quality of life.' He has been involved in the appointment process for new district judges and is also a commissioner with the JAC. 'You are not subject to the client pressures which were awful in private practice. My stomach used to knot every time the 'phone went because it would be someone asking what happened to the file, and there were all sorts of financial and personal pressures.' Although he points out that on the bench the hours are not quite 10am to 4pm, 'as fondly imagined by the public'. He adds: 'I start at 8.30 in the morning and work until I finish, and at night when preparing cases. But life is much better.'



Earlier in the year, the DCA illustrated that it was prepared to go some way to accommodate judges with family commitments when it announced the first full-time judicial job share. Lorna Grosse and Alison Rowley became the first lawyers to share a post - that of a district judge on the South-Eastern Circuit (see [2006] Gazette, 2 February, 5). 'There's no doubt that there are people who would like to work three days a week but continue to look after their family,' said Ms Grosse, a consultant with London law firm Winckworth Sherwood, at the time. 'It will give the bench greater diversity and bring people in with different talents that have not been available so far. I think we also bring an air of realism to the work.'



But what about the widely held view by solicitors that they will never rise above district judge? 'That might have been true 20 years ago when I started,' Mr Newman replies. 'But the situation has changed massively, and in the last year about 13 or more DJs have become circuit judges, and we have achieved that number already this year.' Mr Gold agrees, but adds: 'Aspiring to be a district judge is also a perfectly respectable ambition.'



The fact remains that only two of the 107 High Court judges are solicitors - Lawrence Collins and Henry Hodge - and only 89 of the 638 circuit judges are solicitors. What qualities make a good judge? 'Inevitably you need a good working knowledge of litigation law and practice,' Mr Gold replies. 'If you have some experience of non-contentious work as I did - I did a lot of conveyancing and probate - that would also hold you in good stead. You have to make decisions fast and robustly, stick with them, and not worry about them afterwards.'



If the judiciary is opening to reflect wider society, how do we measure that? Baroness Prashar makes it clear that there are no targets. 'I do not think we are in the business of quotas or positive discrimination,' she says.



'We are in the business of appointing people on merit and ensuring that we draw that merit from as wide a pool as possible.

The problem has been that the appointments on merit in the past were drawn from a very narrow field.'



She adds that the success of the judiciary is not just down to the JAC, but it is also the responsibility of the legal profession to recruit to its own ranks in society's image.



Jon Robins is a freelance journalist