How APPEAL is pioneering a fresh approach to criminal defence (and why you should join us)
I knew from a relatively early age that I wanted to practise law. It was the only profession that interested me - so I followed the path through university and into private practice. The Bar wasn’t an easy route - even then it was extremely difficult to fund the Bar Vocational Course and obtain a pupillage. A scholarship from Middle Temple helped, but it was gruelling.
Fast forward 15 years and I had succeeded in getting tenancy and had the privilege of working with many outstanding colleagues at the Bar before settling into an in-house position with a busy criminal defence practice. Then the pandemic hit. The already overburdened, creaking criminal justice system ground to a halt.
Hearings were routinely adjourned, and clients remained in custody or subject to onerous bail conditions with no date in sight for their day in court. This period brought with it reflection and it was at this time that I saw that APPEAL were recruiting.
Reading the job spec, I quickly realised that this organisation shared my passions and goals. To bring about a fairer, more open justice system for all stakeholders, that yielded accurate convictions and smart sentences. At this point in time, working inside the system I was jaded. From the delays, lack of adequate fees, to the battles for expert funding and disclosure, it was a constant fight for to ensure my client got the best possible representation.
“APPEAL is pioneering a holistic model of defence in England and Wales: the non-profit law practice combining the work of barristers, solicitors, investigators, survivor advocates and campaigners under one roof.””
But this job at APPEAL was different. A chance to do 10 cases really well rather than the quick turnaround of 100 cases and not being able to give 100% to each one.
Now as I write this as APPEAL’s Legal Director in June 2022, it is against the background of hard-working colleagues at the Bar forced to implement days of action in order to secure the funding that they desperately need to do their jobs. But the stark reality is that years of underfunding have stretched the system beyond piecemeal repair. And we know that funding isn’t the only issue. Disclosure failings, and inadequate investigations are leading to people being wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced, and many write to us on a daily basis asking for assistance with their cases.
It is not enough to simply raise fees paid to barristers and solicitors to fix the defence side of a broken system. We need a different way of working and APPEAL is pioneering a model that is mainstream in the United States but yet to become widespread here: that of the holistic, non-profit law practice combining the work of barristers, solicitors, investigators, survivor advocates and campaigners under one roof.
What I relish about my job at APPEAL is that it is so profoundly removed from the limitations of conventional practice. I have been able to step off the conveyor belt and work within a completely different legal practice model. Casework is no longer constrained by the public purse. I have the freedom to properly investigate a case working with in-house investigators to undercover that missing piece of evidence needed to develop a ground of appeal. I also have the unusual privilege of working with teams of top commercial lawyers from City firms who dedicate their time to work pro bono on our cases.
But casework is just one part of what we do at APPEAL. We recognise that firefighting isn’t enough and that systemic and cultural reform is needed alongside better funding to replenish and revitalise our criminal justice system. We use our resources to litigate strategically and engage policymakers and the media to press for improvements to create a system where the most marginalised in society can have a fair trial and where the trial process fails, an appeal as a matter of urgency.
If you would like to know more about the roles we are recruiting for, please see here: appeal.org.uk/careers.