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"Solicitors will be one of the target groups for the Judicial Appointments Commission, the government confirmed".

This makes it sounds as though we have not been hitherto. But we have, and the JAC has made no discernible progress in improving the currently woeful solicitor to barrister ratio in appointments.

Yes of course efforts need to be made to encourage more solicitors to apply, and a part of that is finding a way of persuading law firms to support their solicitors who do want to apply. But let us not ignore the fact that many solicitors are applying already yet are failing in huge numbers.

As the report also says, efforts need to be made to look at why that is. That way solicitors who do apply stand a better chance of succeeding. Until that happens any recruitment drive is surely just setting up more solicitors to fail.