The Law Society encourages all solicitor members interested in a judicial career to sign up to the Law Society’s Solicitor Judges Network. The Network supports solicitors who are interested in a judicial career and will keep individuals updated about specialised events and training, local networking opportunities, regular e-newsletters/updates and access to a wider community of solicitor judges and aspiring judges. You can complete a form on our Solicitor Judges page to register to the Network.
The Law Society also has lots of information about the Pre-Application Judicial Education Programme (PAJE) which launched in 2019. This programme helps lawyers from under-represented groups feel more confident about applying for and preparing for judicial roles. There’s a variety of online resources including 10 videos (on things like skills; decision-making; judicial ethics; resilience and equality and diversity) and 4 podcasts with further information on appointments, judicial conduct, roles/structure and the rule of law and separation of power. Once you have watched all the videos, you can apply to join a discussion group course led by a judge though to flag, the latest application window for this closed on 12 February- there will be other opportunities, however.
We also have case studies from PAJE attendees (here and here) and some advice from the course facilitators: Reflecting and serving society as a judge – Carol Taylor; Human justice: practical learning as a tribunal judge – Paul Shaerf ; Q&A with District Tribunal Judges Marianne Bennett and Rhiannon Price.