Lawrence Corr

Statement of Interest 

President 

As President of Sussex JLD since 2021, I am seeking re-election this year for what will be my final term. It has been an honour to serve, support and advocate for junior lawyers in Sussex.

From this time during the pandemic when the JLD lie dormant, it is nothing short of remarkable to see where the JLD is today.

My task as President at the start of this journey was to reinvigorate the JLD, which was successfully accomplished by holding sold-out social events for our members to network with their peers and feed back to us what they would like to see from their JLD.

Once junior lawyers were aware the JLD was back in business and serving their needs, I then pivoted to the functionally important tasks of efficiency, automation and succession planning to establish the long-term survivability of the JLD. This involved re-establishing our membership list, establishing our website and implementing an automated membership signup page, where previously membership applications had been processed manually.

Another functionally important task was to develop and adopt our Constitution, where none was in place previously. As an unincorporated group it was of vital importance to codify our objects and powers and the framework of Committee in particular. The Constitution now serves as the JLD’s guiding document.

The ambition of my Presidency was to support and advocate for our unqualified members in particular. It is unfortunate that this is a profession which is particularly exploitative, and the gulf between qualification is large. All too often promising graduates at the start of their journey may decide not to continue pursuing this career. It can be lonely and isolating for those who are yet to secure a training contract or their first paralegal role.

I am proud that the JLD’s first mentoring scheme was a resounding success, with local university mentees being paired with local lawyer mentors. The advice, support and encouragement they received, together in some cases with work experience I hope will make them the Sussex junior lawyers of tomorrow.

It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as your President these past four years, and it would be an honour to serve for a final term.