Felix | Criminal lawyers will do more, but not for less

Gripped by Olympic fever, and basking in the glow of Danny Boyle's spectacular, brilliant, startling opening ceremony, we are relishing the challenges, trials and tribulations of the athletes as they go further, higher, faster '“ or in the case of the 'thrown' badminton match by the South Korean and China ladies '“ slower, wider, shorter, rubbishier.

As barristers of course we have missed out on one Olympic event '“ the 'Olympic work bonus' event, where those who would ordinarily be working are paid extra to work as they would have been ordinarily. Gold medals as usual go to the RMT and the tube drivers, managed by their remorselessly successful coach Bob Crowe. Sadly the Criminal Bar Association simply 'failed to turn up for the event', as the sports commentators like to say. Indeed, it was worse than that, as we have seen many of our fixtures cancelled or postponed because of the restriction on sittings at London courts. So, no, we won't be paid extra for doing the same job that we normally do. I suppose we could have all signed up as Security Guards with G4S, or offered to do a few shifts at passport control at Heathrow given the oddly coincidental timing of the PCS workers dispute with the government.

Anyway, so there are the winners and the losers '“ the heroic efforts and the odd villains. It is great that the Mods are back with Bradley Wiggins, and that everyone is becoming very knowledgeable about obscure sports like weightlifting. Across the country, sofa bound spectators who struggle to lift more than a television remote controller are now opining expertly on the shortcomings of a competitor's 'snatch', or getting into the street language of basketball.

Same work, less pay

In our field of work we too are facing Olympic scale hurdles that would make our brave boys and girls blanch. In some cases fee income has been cut that effectively means a 50 per cent reduction in income. So far from getting more to do the same over the Olympic period, we are now getting half less for doing the same thing. This makes life untenable for many '“ so no wonder that people are baling out and getting jobs at the CPS.

The country too faces Olympic hurdles '“ obviously there is the economy, which stubbornly is staying at home and sitting on the sofa watching the Olympics and saying 'good snatch' to itself rather than going out there and getting a proper job '“ like working, expanding, demanding and creating. But what I was really thinking about is the recent official report by Louise Casey into problem families '“ how much relatively few people cost the country every year, and that the problems that these families suffer from and present are entrenched over generations.

This in fact comes as no surprise to your average criminal hack. The courts, we know, are full of people doing to others what has been done to them, and to their parents, and to their grandparents. Anyone who has read a lot of pre-sentence reports '“ and let's face it, we've all read loads of them '“ will know that behind many a criminal falling to be sentenced are his not-so-proud-and-shining parents, that's if it is readily identifiable who dad actually is.

Entrenched difficulties

Louise Casey referred to 120,000 families that present such entrenched difficulties. She also discovered that many of them have many children. It is a strange thing that so many of these families do have so many children '“ whatever or wherever the failures lie, one can't but help think that a baby means attention and someone taking a bit of care over you for a few months in circumstances where ordinarily nobody else does.

Louise Casey also referred, refreshingly, to the fact that these families also need to take some responsibility for themselves '“ that the children need to be at school, that the fathers need to take responsibility, that the mothers need to stop have multiple numbers of babies. This is important, because all too often in court it is something that seems not to be able to be said. Lots of things are someone else's fault, and we again all have experience of clients who could whinge for Great Britain at the Olympics but still have a better television than we do, and spend many more nights and afternoons in the pub than we ever manage. So '“ a little less one way traffic and a lot more help.

It would be great, and it we would be in it for the long haul, but the amounts of money involved - £448m - would be an Olympic sum although they would provide Olympic scale benefits and success if it even makes a half-way dent into the entrenched problems that persist.

Another great thing about the London Olympics is the tag that goes with everything '“ including around the basketball hoops even [watch more closely] '“ 'Inspire a generation'. Well that is the thing that is most laudable '“ and in the same way if £448m can lift and inspire a generation out of court then that would be a gold medal success.

Funnily enough you won't find the barristers complaining if that means less '“ but then we don't ask for more to do the same, but only not for less.