Geoffrey Bindman QC reminisces on the days of the small family firm
Getting on to the legal ladder in the 1950s, when I first embarked on a career, was very much a matter of whom you knew or could get introduced to. Lawyers in the family could provide a place in a firm or chambers or a helpful introduction. I profited from both. When I aimed to go to the Bar a solicitor uncle arranged for me to have lunch with a leading junior who relied heavily on my uncle for his livelihood. He offered me pupillage on the spot. When I switched to the solicitors’ branch, my uncle offered me articles, at the then unsurprising salary of £3 a week. Only years later I found out that my father had paid my uncle a “premium” of £500, so in reality my employers were getting my services for nothing.
Family businesses
My story was not unusual. Many solicitors’ firms were family businesses, as some continue to be. So access to the profession had monetary value and paying for access made economic sense. Premiums disappeared
