Hidden World of the Legal Aid Lawyer

Emma Cooke is Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Kent. Her research interests are inter-disciplinary spanning criminal justice, socio-legal and occupational sociology remits.

• Prologue: A Modern Day ‘Legal Aid Lawyers’ Story1. Introduction2. Research Context: Legal Aid Provision Over Time3. The Participants: How, Who, and Why?4. Moving Beyond ‘Occupational Culture’: Introducing the Concept of the ‘Shared Orientation’ Model5. Navigating Entry to, and Barriers Within the Legal Profession: Exploring Institutional and Structural Deficiencies Within the Legal Aid Field6. The ‘Precarious’ Legal Aid Lawyer: Consequences that Reductions in Funding and Services Have Had on the Legal Aid Lawyers Lived Experience7. One-Stop-Shop: ‘It’s Not Just About Being Someone’s Lawyer’8. Concluding Remarks: Revisiting the ‘Shared Orientation’ Model

“This is a fascinating exploration of the day-to-day work of legal aid lawyers, perfectly illustrating many of the policy problems which damage access to justice and legal advice.” Jo Wilding, University of Sussex