The organization was started by a Serious Fraud Office paralegal and an aspiring barrister
The physical and mental wellbeing of criminal justice practitioners is at the center of Legally Lifelong, a UK-based grassroots organization started by UK Serious Fraud Office paralegal Morwenna Hocken and aspiring barrister Lucy Fegan-Earl.
The Law Society Gazette reported that the organization is looking to conduct town hall events to increase awareness of the criminal justice system’s challenges. It seeks to have politicians and the press at these events.
“We all have complaints about the criminal justice system but sometimes it feels like we’re preaching to the choir,” pupil barrister Tochi Ejimofo, who teamed up with Hocken and Fegan-Earl on the initiative, said in a statement published by the Gazette.
Legally Lifelong also began providing support to practitioners through the preparation of top up care baskets, which it has been placing in the women’s toilets at London Crown courts. These baskets include period pads, tampons, deodorant, and hair bands; users are being asked to check that the baskets are being refilled. The organization confirmed that it was putting together care baskets for men as well.
Moreover, Legally Lifelong is pushing for the reopening of all Crown court canteens, with Ejimofo emphasizing the need for proper meals. The group has connected with cafes near Snaresbrook Crown Court and the magistrates’ courts at Thames Lavender Hill and Highbury Corner; these cafes are now trialing the provision of a 10 percent coffee and food discount to criminal justice professionals.
Legally Lifelong said it would advocate for criminal practitioners to be included in the Blue Light Card discount scheme. Fegan-Earl said that the organization would be conducting wellbeing sessions in court soon.
Wellbeing, Ejimofo said in a statement published by the Gazette, need not be a “nebulous concept.”
Legally Lifelong was launched last week at a central London event that counted Bar Council chair Barbara Mills among its guests. Mills said in a statement published by the Gazette that Legally Lifelong went beyond an initiative and was “a movement.”
