We are launching the call for a workers’ inquiry into the legal sector. Notes from Below, Tanzil Chowdhury, and Jamie Woodcock (and supported by the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context, Queen Mary University of London) are inviting workers in the legal sector to write about the organisation of their work and class composition.

To our knowledge, there has not been a workers inquiry in the British legal services sector. In addition to this gap, there are many changes in the technical composition of legal sector workers, as well as examples of new unionisation, protests, and strikes. The law also plays an important political role in the reproduction of capital accumulation and circulation. We want to dig into how these affect, and are affected by the class composition of legal sector workers.

We are looking for workers that represent a range of legal services, including: paralegals, barristers, pupils to KCs, solicitors, court workers, in-house lawyers for third-sector organisations or those providing legal services in law centres.

The plan is to publish inquiries from across the sector to understand how legal work is changing and what struggles are happening over the law. The aim is to collect contributions (between 1,000-4,000 words) which will be published in a book by Notes from Below. We will also organise collective discussions during the editing process and a public launch event for the book.

As usual with Notes from Below, we welcome submissions from writers with any level of experience. We are keen to support new writers and can help at any stage of the process: from discussing ideas about a potential piece, to writing, drafting, and editing.

To apply, please provide a 150 word max pitch, outlining your role in legal services and what you would like to write about. Each writer can be supported with a £150 grant. You can submit your pitch through the Notes from Below contact form.

The deadline for taking part is Friday 12th January 2024. We anticipate that first drafts will be submitted for feedback at the start of April.

Any questions or if you want to discuss a potential contribution, please get in touch.