SC bats for creation of young lawyers assistance fund to prevent brain drain

Noting that young and bright advocates are deserting the profession due to financial hardships, the Supreme Court on Friday said a “Young Lawyers’ Professional Assistance Fund” must be created to stop the “brain drain”.

The apex court also took note of problems faced by women lawyers and said when they are required to spend substantial portions of their day within the court premises, availability of basic infrastructure necessary for their comfort, privacy, safety and professional functioning assumes utmost significance.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana issued notice to the Centre, all states and Union Territories and others seeking their responses on a plea which highlighted the financial challenges faced by young lawyers during the formative years of practice.

The plea filed by a group of women advocates also raised issue concerning the accessibility, inclusiveness and long-term sustainability of women lawyers in the legal profession.

The bench said the issue concerning financial challenges faced by young lawyers is gender-neutral and also merits serious consideration.

It said a young first-generation lawyer entering the Bar does not immediately inherit an office, a library, a stable clientele or a predictable source of income.

It said during this formative period, many junior advocates remain dependent on modest stipends paid by their seniors or in some places, by the local Bar associations, which are often insufficient to meet even their basic living expenses.

The top court said absence of a steady stream of clients and the limited remuneration available during these years tends to create extreme financial hardship.

“It is this period of turmoil that often compels capable and promising young lawyers to abandon practice at the Bar altogether. We apprehend that such attrition may produce a form of professional brain drain, diminishing the ability of the Bar to attract and retain the young and meritorious,” the bench said.

It said the challenge was particularly acute for first-generation lawyers and those belonging to economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

“It thus seems to us that a Young Lawyers’ Professional Assistance Fund must be created and should be established under the exclusive control of the jurisdictional high courts or an autonomous body constituted by the Union of India in consultation with the state governments,” the bench said.

It said a framework of such nature will inspire greater confidence amongst prospective donors and contributors to the fund. 

“As regards the source of funding, all the stakeholders ought to consider the desirability of enacting a suitable law providing for a structured mechanism of donation and contribution by the successful senior advocates and other practising lawyers with adequate professional experience in the country,” it said.

The bench said in addition, the Centre and states ought to contribute a part of the court fee collected by the judiciary towards that fund.

“Similarly, the courts can also divert a substantial part of the costs imposed in judicial proceedings as a contribution to that fund,” it said.

It said to operationalise and popularise donations from successful lawyers and others, who are directly concerned with the quality improvement of the legal fraternity, the proposed law may provide suitable incentives such as tax exemptions, national awards or other honours to the donee lawyers etc. 

The bench said the proposed fund must be utilised to provide a reasonable monthly stipend-cum-honorarium to such young advocates, who are first-generation lawyers or those from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds, during the formative years of their professional careers.

It said such beneficiaries should be attached to experienced members of the Bar as associates to compulsorily render their professional services in lieu of payment of a stipend.

The bench said the quantum of financial assistance so granted ought to be sufficient to ensure basic sustenance for the initial three years of practice.

“At the same time, such financial assistance may be proportionately reduced over time, finally coming to an end after 7 years of practice,” it said.

“It may also be worthwhile to examine the mechanism by which advocates, who have benefited from such assistance early on in their careers, are required to contribute back to the fund in a phased manner through monthly instalments,” the bench said.

It said such a model would facilitate the creation of a self-sustaining corpus capable of supporting successive generations of young lawyers.

The bench said it has consciously made these tentative and illustrative observations in its order to enable all the stakeholders to give thought while submitting their proposals before this court.

It posted the matter for hearing on July 17.

The bench requested Attorney General R Venkataramani, advocate generals for all states and standing counsel for UTs to remain present and render their assistance in the matter.