Summary information

Study title

Solicitors and the Wider Community, 1975-1976

Creator

Podmore, D., University of Aston, Sociology Group

Study number / PID

1276 (UKDA)

10.5255/UKDA-SN-1276-1 (DOI)

Data access

Restricted

Series

Not available

Abstract

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Research carried out in the United States indicates that lawyers have a high level of participation in activities in the wider community. This survey gathered information on the participation in extra-professional activities of West Midlands solicitors.Main Topics:Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions Career details since leaving school, when decided to become solicitor, and why, how gained articles, positions held since qualifying. How frequently takes work home, how frequently appears in Court, whether does any work for Citizen's Advice Bureau, Marriage Guidance Council etc. Business Solicitors: no. of people employed in Legal Department and in what capacity; proportion of time spent on legal/non-legal work; most important categories of work (e.g. matrimonial, tax matters, criminal etc.); why practising certificate taken out; whether has other remunerative occupation. Private Practice Solicitors: whether sole pratitioner; no. of branches and location; no. of partners and assistants in practice; length of time in practice; no. of employees and their jobs; whether any directorships or positions in business companies held; whether has other occupation(s) and time spent; rank importance of various categories of work; type of work spends most time on; sources of client referrals and rank importance; whether practice is in Legal Aid Scheme. Membership of professional (and extra-professional) associations and organisations, how often attends meetings, whether ever held office or sat on a committee, past activities (details), whether participation in non-professional associations has helped or hindered career. Whether interested in politics, whether a paid up member of a political party and for how long, whether ever held office or served on a committee (details), whether ever been a candidate at a local or general election (details), whether ever assisted a candidate or party in an election campaign...

Legislation and legal systemsElites and leadership

Data collection period

01/02/1975 - 01/03/1976

Country

England

Time dimension

Cross-sectional (one-time) study

Analysis unit

Individuals

Groups

Subnational

Elites

Solicitors

Universe

Solicitors in Birmingham, Solihull and Worcestershire who were listed in the <i>Law List</i> as having taken out certificates to practise

Sampling procedure

Simple random sample

One-stage stratified or systematic random sample

A simple random sample was used for business solicitors. A stratified random sample was drawn from the 1973 <i>Law List</i> for private practitioners.

Kind of data

Not available

Data collection mode

Face-to-face interview

Publisher

UK Data Service

Publication year

1981

Terms of data access

The Data Collection is available to UK Data Service registered users subject to the End User Licence Agreement.

Commercial use of the data requires approval from the data owner or their nominee. The UK Data Service will contact you.

Podmore, D. (1978) 'Solicitors activities in the wider community: I: the prominence of solicitors in community affairs and politics', The Law Society's Gazette, 882
Podmore, D. (1977) 'Lawyers and politics', British Journal of Law and Society, 155-185
Podmore, D. (1977) 'A survey of West Midlands solicitors: I: a review of some background data', The Law Society's Gazette, 611
Podmore, D. (1977) 'The community activities of solicitors', [presentation], Tenth Conference of the Socio-legal Group, 01 April 1977-01 April 1977, University of Sheffield.
Podmore, D. (1978) Solicitors activities in voluntary organisations, [Working paper].Birmingham: Sociology Group, University of Aston.
Podmore, D. (1979) 'The sole practitioner: a declining species', New Law Journal, 356-357
Podmore, D. (1979) 'Bucher & Strauss revisited: the case of the solicitors profession', [presentation], British Sociological Association Conference, 01 April 1979-01 April 1979, University of Warwick.
Podmore, D. (1978) 'Solicitor's activities in the wider community: II: West Midlands solicitors in community affairs and politics', The Law Society's Gazette, 904-905
Podmore, D. (0001) 'Too many lawyers in Parliament?', New Law Journal
Podmore, D. (1975) 'Lawyers in politics: an exploratory study', [presentation], Sixth Conference of the Socio-legal Group, 01 January 1975-01 January 1975, University of Manchester.
Podmore, D. (1978) 'The community activities of solicitors', [presentation], Ad Hoc Group No.4, Ninth World Congress of Sociology, 01 August 1978-01 August 1978, Uppsala, Sweden.
Podmore, D. (1978) Solicitors and the wider community, [Thesis], Birmingham: The University of Aston.
Podmore, D. (1977) 'Solicitors activities in voluntary organisations: Section N', [presentation], 139th Annual Meeting of the British Association, 01 September 1977-01 September 1977, The University of Aston, Birmingham.
Podmore, D. (1977) 'A survey of West Midlands solicitors: II: the work of the solicitor in private practice', The Law Society's Gazette, 636