Black History Month 2025: Raise the Percentage
‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’. That is the theme that has been prescribed to Black History Month for 2025. ‘Power’ and ‘pride’ are two words I would assign to the black culture.
An Important SRA Statistic
An astonishing statistic that was brought to my attention by a friend of mine is that only approximately 3% of all practising solicitors in the UK are black. This is according to the most recent data from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). As a young black man who has just started his training contract at Hodge Jones and Allen, I found this shocking. This must change. Representation is key if you want to encourage other young up and coming lawyers of colour to stand firm in power and pride. I think it is clear for most individuals that if you see someone who shares similarities with you, whether it be the way they look, the way they behave, their socio-economic background etc. then one will easily resonate with that person.
Now imagine a young black Brit leaving university or just starting their law degree and seeing that only 3% of all practising solicitors in the UK share similarities with them. Will they be inspired? Or will they be deterred? Most likely the latter. The consequence of this has two tiers. Primarily, bright students who can bring different lived experiences to the legal profession don’t become lawyers. Secondly, as lawyers, our work is heavily client focused. Hence if clients of the same background do not have the trust and confidence in those that they instruct due to them not having similar shared backgrounds and that relatability, then ultimately this leads to a linear legal profession that is less informed and less reflective of those it serves.
Inner Self-Belief
I would describe myself as someone who is quietly confident. I have an inner self-belief that goes beyond the confidence I display externally. One thing I have never done is let the colour of my skin hold me back in anything I do. I am fully aware that there are people who hold prejudices against people of colour. This is not something I am naïve about. One afternoon about 4 years ago, I had just come back from the gym (feeling pretty good about myself might I add) and was driving home. Next thing I know the police pulled up behind me and put their sirens on. Therefore, as procedure goes, I pulled over and stopped my car. They asked me for my details, and I answered. They did their checks, and all came back ok. I asked the officers “what was the reason I was stopped?” to which they respond that they were “doing routine checks”. Make of that what you will.
In any event, I was feeling good about myself after the gym, and I was still feeling good about myself after I was stopped by the police. I did not let that ruin my spirit. I remember phoning my father when I arrived home and letting him know what happened. His response was a chuckle with a light-hearted “congratulations on your first one”. The carefree response was his way of showing this is something he has lived through all his life and was perhaps something I could expect being a young black driver. This is only a microcosm of the preconceptions and challenges black people face in society.
The Law is A Powerful Tool
For me, the law is one of, if not the, most powerful tool you can have in a society. It is how we police a state and have civilisation. However, a tool this powerful needs to be fair. To make this tool fair we need to increase the representation across our legal profession and policymakers. We need to find a way to encourage young black Brits who are entering law to be inspired and be encouraged to enter the profession. That is not to say that there should be more legal professionals of colour than any other race – there simply needs to be a fairer balance than we currently have. We need to embrace our differences and accept that we can all bring something different to the table.
To the young black Brits leaving university or just starting your law degrees, believe in yourselves and be encouraged. Let’s increase the percentage of practising solicitors in the UK of colour whilst standing firm in power and pride!
#BlackHistoryMonth2025 #StandingFirmInPowerAndPride #RaiseThePercentage #SRA #LegalCareers