March 30, 2020

Following the announcement by the Department for Education that those essential to the running of the justice system would, in certain circumstances, be recognised as “key workers” who may ask schools to continue to take their children, the Ministry of Justice has now announced which legal practitioners come within this limited category of key workers.

Keyworkers include those “essential to the running of the justice system”. The list is as follows:

• advocates (including solicitor advocates) required to appear before a court or tribunal (remotely or in person), including prosecutors;
• other legal practitioners required to support the administration of justice including duty solicitors (police station and court) and barristers, solicitors, legal executives, paralegals and others who work on imminent or ongoing court or tribunal hearings;
• solicitors acting in connection with the execution of wills; and
• solicitors and barristers advising people living in institutions or deprived of their liberty.

Only legal practitioners who work on the types of matters, cases and hearings listed above will be permitted to be classified as a keyworker.

In addition, some legal practitioners will intermittently fall into this category because they need to provide advice or attend a hearing for an urgent matter relating, for example, to safeguarding of children or vulnerable adults, or a public safety matter. For the limited time required to deliver this work, a legal practitioner will be a key worker. To read the statement published on the Law Society’s website in full, click here.