Posted on

Launch of Barristers’ questionnaire

screenshot of the questionnaire for disabled barristers

Are you a disabled person, or someone with a long-term medical condition working in, aspiring to work in (e.g. in training), or retired from the Bar? If so, this research is for you.

We are pleased to launch the next stage of the research with a questionnaire for disabled people training for or working as Barristers. This also includes those who have since left these roles in the profession.

Click here to fill in the survey for barristers.

Update: the extended deadline for responses is 23rd July 2019.

A separate questionnaire for solicitors and paralegals is also available. This is due to the different qualification routes and workplace experiences.

If it is more appropriate to fill in the questionnaire for solicitors and paralegals please click here. If you are unsure as to which is best suited for you, please contact Dr Natasha Hirst on HirstN2@cardiff.ac.uk

The purpose of the research is to produce the first large scale evidence base on the career experiences of disabled people across the legal profession. This will build on and quantify the evidence obtained from one to one interviews.

 

We anticipate that it will take approximately 20 to 25 minutes to complete the questionnaire. It can also be saved part way and finished off later. You have the option to skip questions or answer ‘not applicable’ as appropriate to you.

If you have any queries or require the questionnaire in a word document or other accessible format please get in touch with Dr Natasha Hirst on HirstN2@cardiff.ac.uk

Please note that both researchers are part-time on the project and will respond as soon as possible to any queries.

Posted on

Launch of Solicitor’s Questionnaire

screenshot of the web page for the Legally Disabled questionnaire for solicitors

Are you a disabled person, or someone with a long-term medical condition working in, aspiring to work in (e.g. in training), or retired from the legal profession? If so, this research is for you.

We are pleased to launch the next stage of the research with a questionnaire for disabled people training for or working as solicitors and paralegals. This also includes those who have since left these roles in the profession.

UPDATE: The deadline for response has been extended to 7th July 2019.

The purpose of the research is to produce the first large scale evidence base on the career experiences of disabled people across the legal profession. This will build on and quantify the evidence obtained from one to one interviews.

Click here to fill in the questionnaire for solicitors and paralegals.

UPDATE: The deadline for response has been extended to 7th July 2019.

We anticipate that it will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. It can also be saved part way and finished off later. You have the option to skip questions or answer ‘not applicable’ as appropriate to you.

A separate questionnaire for Barristers has also been launched. This is due to the very different qualification routes and workplace experiences. If you are unsure as to which is best suited for you, please contact Dr Natasha Hirst on HirstN2@cardiff.ac.uk

Click here to fill in the survey for barristers. 

If you have any queries or require the questionnaire in a word document or other accessible format please get in touch with Dr Natasha Hirst on HirstN2@cardiff.ac.uk

Please note that both researchers are part-time on the project and will respond as soon as possible to any queries.

Posted on

Season’s Greetings!

ginger kitten under a christmas tree

Project update

As we send our best wishes to everyone over the Christmas holidays, here is a quick progress update.

Following a successful series of focus groups and over fifty five one-to-one interviews, we are delighted to update you on the progress of the research.

Eight focus groups took place early in 2018 in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Birmingham with disabled legal professionals including paralegals, solicitors, barristers, judges, trainees and retirees.

We recently completed the second stage of the project – one to one interviews. These explored individual experiences in more depth. We are currently finalising the analysis of the interviews to draw out the key research themes. There is so much useful information from the interviews!

What next?

Over the first few weeks of 2019, the report on the initial findings of the research will be drafted. A questionnaire will also be developed and disseminated as widely as possible to identify how common certain experiences are for disabled legal professionals.

Later in the year we will hold a conference to share and discuss the findings of the research.

A Research Reference Group consisting of disabled legal professionals from a diversity of backgrounds have supported us with the ongoing development and implementation of the project.

Thank you to all who have taken part in the interviews and focus groups. Your openness about your experiences has been incredibly valuable and will enable us to produce a report and recommendations that we hope will have an impact on improving how the legal professional includes disabled people.

We’d love to talk to you!

If your group, network or firm would like us to come along and discuss our findings over the Spring and Summer please do get in touch. We also value all support that you can give with sharing the questionnaire and research findings as we progress the project.

Many more people have expressed an interest in being involved in other ways. If you haven’t already been in touch and you’d like to be involved, you can reach us on info@legallydisabled.com

Please take a look around the website to find out how you can participate and follow the progress of the work.

Posted on

The next steps

What happens next?

There are a number of key stages to the development of the research, all of which will happen in equal partnership (co-production) with disabled legal professionals.

The project has established a Research Reference Group consisting of only disabled legal professionals and the two key researchers.  This group supports the researchers with designing and delivering the research. Data has been collected through a number of focus groups and we will shortly begin one to one interviews.  When analysis of the interviews is complete we will distribute a large-scale survey.  At all stages, the aim is for disabled people to lead the way.

Continue reading “The next steps”