Lawyer of the Month - January 2007

Our Lawyer of the Month is Anthony Robinson. Anthony was born Lynwall Anthony Robinson in 1960 in Kingston, Jamaica and came to the UK when he was four years old.  

Anthony read law at Queen Mary College, University of London and graduated in 1984. In the mid-80s, he combined his full-time studies with working to support his family and looking after his young children. He attended the Inns of Court School of Law to read his Bar Finals and was called to the Bar (Gray’s Inn) in 1988. Anthony subsequently obtained an LLM (Masters in Law) at the London School of Economics in 1998. In 2000, he was also admitted as a solicitor.

After his call to the Bar, Anthony worked at the Stockwell and Clapham Law Centre for four years doing employment, education and social security law. In 1991 he joined Lambeth Council (at the time when Linda Bellos was leader) as a Principal Lawyer heading their Education and Employment Team. He thoroughly enjoyed working in Lambeth as he was involved in some ground-breaking work. In 1995, Anthony joined Southwark Council, again within the Education and Employment Team where he later became the Acting Assistant Borough Solicitor.

In 2002 Anthony was appointed as the Director of Legal Services and Enforcement at the Commission for Racial Equality, heading a 40-strong core staff, comprising 20 lawyers and 20 support staff and overseeing an annual budget of £4.5 million. £3 million of this is spent on investigations and litigation to promote racial equality in the UK and the remainder on funding race equality councils, law centres and similar external bodies to provide assistance to those who have suffered discrimination.

In addition to his legal and enforcement role in Britain, Anthony and his team also play a key role in the CRE’s European and international legal work as part of the CRE’s European and International Strategy, in force since 2004. This element of the CRE’s international work is something Anthony feels very passionately about, as he believes there is huge scope to make wide-ranging changes because some of the European institutions appear to be more willing to be expansive and creative about the law than the Government in the UK.  Also our European partners respect the CRE and view it as a good model on which to build their own law and on which to build similar equality bodies.

The CRE receives more than 12,000 inquiries each year from the public seeking legal help and advice. Individuals receive assistance whether in the form of help with writing letters, help with completing Race Relations Act questionnaires, help with initiating proceedings, signposting (pointing them to bodies most able to help). In about 1,000 cases, additional support of varying kind is given but only a handful of individuals are given full representation to take their cases to court. The CRE has been heavily criticised for not taking on more cases but Anthony maintains that resources are now being better targeted to help a lot more people as the bulk of the budget is being spent on formal investigations that will assist a greater number of people or in providing funding to external bodies to take on these cases in a more cost effective way. Where the CRE takes on cases for full representation, these are cases that are more strategic and will change the law or clarify the law. An investigation that Anthony was responsible for was the Police Formal Investigation which has ensured that extensive changes have been made in the police forces which will affect the lives of many.

Anthony and his team are currently looking into the effects of regeneration programmes on ethnic minority groups, for example looking into the effect of redeveloping derelict areas and replacing them with modern complexes which the locals can no longer afford to rent to run their own businesses or to live.

Anthony is married and has four children.

Below is our interview with Anthony:

BLD: What was the best career advice you were given?

AR: The only career advice I received was at school but I cannot recall exactly what it was. However, I know that they did not advise me to be a lawyer and I remember being terribly disappointed by their lack of vision about the professions or jobs that I could consider.

One person who was influential at the start of my career was Bernard Wiltshire, former Deputy Leader of the Inner London Education Authority. He is a Dominican-born barrister who returned to Dominica to practice. Bernard gave me two pieces of advice. He suggested that I should concentrate on the issues or things that I was personally interested in even if it was an obscure area. I could then develop it into a niche area of law. For example, he explained that if someone was interested in cars, trains or architecture this interest could translate into the law concerning these areas e.g. automotive, transport or planning law. This led me to concentrate on human rights, education law, labour law, data protection, employment law and discrimination law because I was genuinely interested in these issues and they translated very well into law – at the time these were seen as esoteric areas of law. I did an MA in Human Rights in the mid-80s when it was seen as the preserve of hippies. When I started doing education and human rights law there were very few practitioners at the time. There were a few more people doing employment and discrimination but again at the time they were not regarded as mainstream areas.

Bernard also advised me that I should always try to do my best and aim for the highest standards possible.

BLD: What career advice would you give to others?

AR: I would repeat the advice that Bernard Wiltshire gave me, but I would also add two points. Firstly, that they should work hard at the law because like everything else you get back what you put into it. 

I would also add that they should have a life outside of the law and should consider participating in mooting, amateur dramatics, debating, public speaking and presentation skills as much as possible when you are at school and university. Not only are these enjoyable, valuable things to do in themselves, but they will give you many of the softer skills that will assist you in your future career.

BLD: If you were to choose another job/role, other than what you are doing, what would it be and why?

AR: As a child I either wanted to be a lawyer, a footballer or a long-distance Continental lorry driver. I wasn’t good enough at football to be a professional. I thought that driving from country to country would be the most exciting job in the world, but I am not sure that it is something that still appeals to me!

BLD: Who is the person you most admire (dead or alive) and why?

AR: Apart from my wife, children and my parents, it is without a doubt Nelson Mandela. He is one of the greatest figures in history for his bravery, determination, focus, his personal sacrifice and commitment to fighting apartheid. However, he has also shown such unbelievable wisdom and compassion in general but particularly towards those who were part of the regime and the ideology that created and sustained apartheid. Mandela is also a lawyer and a member of Gray’s Inn, the Inn that I belonged to before I converted to become a solicitor.

BLD: If able to, please tell us your views about what practical steps the legal profession and users of legal services can take to ensure that organisations pay more than lip service to diversity.

AR: I am disappointed at the legal profession’s resistance to the idea of diversity. The Law Society has tried to take a leadership role and exhort law firms to be more diverse but many of the firms have not responded to the challenge as enthusiastically as it was hoped they would.

The Department of Constitutional Affairs has appealed to law firms and chambers to do more but these calls have not been heeded. I was disappointed by the Minister’s failure to follow up their shortcomings and to even consider some sort of action against them. I am particularly disappointed by the Bar Council which is way behind the Law Society in taking a strong leadership role on diversity.

Users of legal services must demand diversity from their solicitors. I was one of the judges in the 2006 Law Society and CRE Race Equality Awards and we decided to give a special award to Barclays Bank for their work in this area. Barclays has really shaken the legal profession by insisting that all their panel lawyers have to pass rigorous diversity benchmarks. This initiative has had a tremendous impact on the profession already but I hope that the example will be followed by other large blue chip purchasers of legal services. 

BLD: What have proved the most famous/interesting/challenging diversity issues you have had to tackle in your professional role to date?

AR: I have dealt with a lot of discrimination cases in my time in practice and being the Director of Legal Services at the CRE I am aware of a lot of race discrimination and other discrimination cases taking place. One recent case where the CRE intervened was a case against the MoD. The case involved civilian detainees who had been interned by the Japanese during the Second World War. Rabinder Singh QC, who was one of your previous Lawyers of the Month, acted for Mrs Elias in the case.

Another challenging case I dealt with was when I was the Head of Employment and Education Law for Lambeth Council and the Council was challenged by a primary school pupil, Molly McIntyre, who had special needs. Her mother wanted Molly’s school to install a lift to enable her to access the upper floor of the building. Lambeth contended that this request was unreasonable because they had made substantial adaptations to the classroom, had installed accessible toilets and had re-arranged how the curriculum was delivered so that the child could access the full curriculum in her class with her class mates. They also pointed out that by the time the work would be completed the child would only have two more years left in the school, and, the installation of the lift would cost nearly £200K to do so.

The case was before the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 so it was brought under the special educational needs legislation. The local authority successfully claimed that the provision was not “special educational provision” under the relevant legislation.

I felt sorry for Molly on a personal level and always thought that this tested my commitment to my client, even though at the time the council’s views of their legal obligations were correct. I had advised them that irrespective of the law they should carry out the work but they claimed they could not afford to do it as it would set a precedent as they would have to adapt virtually every school which would have cost many millions of pounds, which they did not have. A couple of years ago I read something that was written by Molly’s mother who wrote in memory of her courageous daughter, who had died from her medical condition. I was fascinated to read about Molly and the numerous struggles she had throughout her short life to have what she saw was her full rights and entitlements respected.  Molly and her mother became ardent campaigners on issues ranging from special educational needs, student politics, environment issues and local issues in Lambeth and even further afield. The most significant struggle and the thing that led them to become such campaigners was their struggle with the local authority concerning the installation of the lift. At last I was to know something about Molly and her history.

BLD: What are the greatest issues/challenges on diversity that need to be tackled now?

AR: I think race and religion are likely to be the most difficult challenges that need to be tackled. In some respects the portents look incredibly ominous and I am particularly concerned about the increasing hostility between groups in society, social fragmentation and the polarisation of society. I think that with the persistence of discrimination since the first equality Acts in the 1960s to the present time, we must urgently consider new approaches to tackling discrimination. We will have to look at approaches like whether positive discrimination, ethnic quotas, using the criminal law more against discriminators, etc should be brought into law.

BLD: The CRE’s has been faced with mounting criticism about taking on less and less casework and therefore failing to help the most needy. What is your response to this criticism?

AR: It is true that we are not supporting as many individual cases as we used to, but we do provide vital pre-litigation and initial support for litigation to thousands of individuals who contact the CRE annually. We do not have an open cheque and have to operate within very tight budgets. The strategy is therefore to make a greater impact by concentrating our efforts on helping a lot more people. Personally, I wish we could take on more casework but this is just not possible given our very limited budget but we are reaching a lot more people by funding different bodies like Racial Equality Councils and Law Centres to take on this work. Also we are concentrating more of our energies and resources on formal investigations and interventions. This is much more targeted. For example the investigations into the police forces and the Ministry of Defence achieved a tremendous amount.

BLD: What are you most passionate/happiest about?

AR: I am an ardent Arsenal fan, having been brought up in Highbury, but I am most passionate about my family. In my dreams I am happiest enjoying a good book, whilst drinking a rum cocktail and listening to some music either at Uncle Ernie’s Bar or Johnno’s in beautiful Anguilla.

BLD: If you could rule the world for a day what would you change/do?

AR: Bring an end to all inequality and discrimination and end all conflicts.

BLD: Please tell us about your family life, place of birth and other little known facts about you.

AR: I am married with two daughters (aged 27 and 23) and two sons (aged seven and four). I was named Lynwall, after Ray Lindwall, an Australian, who although he was an all-rounder was, according to my father, the first genuine fast bowler. Ray Lindwall was a really remarkable sportsman. Apart from also being a brilliant batsman he also represented his country in rugby and football. To the disappointment of my father I am really hopeless at cricket and as a youngster I was not interested in the game. However, since adulthood I have come to understand, enjoy and appreciate it.