The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg, has urged the legal world to open up its doors and allow a greater diversity of people to work within the system. Clegg, of the Liberal Democrats that form part of the Coalition Government, has been a long standing proponent of social mobility and access for all and has stated that the legal system in the UK is, more often than not, dominated by white, middle class men.

Clegg argued that Britain must be built upon a fair society and he feels that opportunities, especially for ethnic minorities or immigrants, is lacking in the legal profession and it should do its upmost to try and rectify the current situation. Indeed, former Justice Minister Bridget Prentice first spoke out about the attitude towards immigrants and ethnic minorities within the legal system back in 2007 when she argued that they were essentially ‘pigeon-holed’ into certain parts of the legal profession such as immigration issues or family work and that their expertise could be better used elsewhere if they legal world was more open to them.

While Nick Clegg did acknowledge that the legal system had came on leaps and bounds over the course of the last century of so he still argued that it could be far more open and diverse than it currently is. Furthermore, he announced the doubling of a fund (to £1m) that will allow recent law graduates to go into schools and talk about their experiences both at university and within the profession in order to try and get more people, especially those from disadvantages backgrounds, interested in law as a career option.