Breaking into the Legal Profession the Problem with Regional Accents
There has been much discussion lately about diversifying the Bar. The concern is that barristers do not reflect the broad spectrum of people living in England and Wales today. They seem to be recruited from the minority of middle class, accent less, public school applicants.I am one of those people who are from the type of background the Bar is aiming to encourage into the profession female, working class, ex inner city comprehensive pupil. With regards to encouraging women to the Bar, there has been a lot of progress. But socio-economic background is a different matter. What is it about this background that makes it more difficult for applicants to break through?
In my own experience, one of the main obstacles was my lack of grooming' for the Bar. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is my Liverpudlian accent. Obviously an accent can make a difference if your career is based on public speaking because you need to be understood in court. In my case I try not to drop my g's, or scrape my k's on the back of my throat or say me instead of my. My Liverpudlian accent is there, but it's been clipped and polished. But is this enough? If I am understandable, does it matter that I have got an accent?
One of the last pupillage interviews I had required an eight-hour round trip from Liverpool to the London chambers for a ten minute discussion with the panel. Given the shortness of the interview, I expected questions on my achievements, my passion for and knowledge of the law. Instead, I was asked the question, "Do you think that the fact you have a Liverpudlian accent will be a disadvantage at the Bar?" Before I realised what I was doing, I began justifying why Liverpudlians could be barristers. I left feeling frustrated and disappointed. Maybe I was being over sensitive. Maybe the interviewer simply wanted me to argue that the Bar was progressing and accents did not mean anything anymore. But obviously they do so much so that in a ten-minute interview, the focus was on my accent and not on my abilities, achievements or aspirations.
So what is the problem with an accent? Perhaps it is equated with less education, less refinement. Or maybe it is associated more with the defendant than with the defence counsel. Whatever it is, it seems to be something that is not easily overlooked.
The new Bar initiatives announced by Geoffrey Vos QC to encourage people from all backgrounds to the Bar are to be commended. But what should not be forgotten is that while applicants from atypical' backgrounds can bring fresh talent to the Bar, they will also bring with them different traits that may be harder for the profession to accept. And this includes accents.As for me, fifteen pupillage interviews later and still no pupillage. Arguably, I'm just not very good at interviews. However, I can't help but wonder whether it is not what I say at an interview that is holding me back, but how I sound when I say it.
