A growing interest in labour history includes a focus on white-collar employees, yet research into the role of the legal clerk in Victorian and Edwardian Britain has been scarce. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the legal clerk specialised in clerical work associated with law courts and practices.

The precise work of law clerks tended to differ from firm to firm, with conveyancing emerging as an important area of their remit. At the bottom of the ladder were the junior clerks. Their duties were very different form those expected to be carried out by similar ranking clerks in other office jobs. Solicitors in the 19th century relied significantly on a range of subordinated personnel, including writers, copying clerks and managing clerks. The office-boy had to work very hard, and there was no time to be given the same instruction more than once.

Juniors tended to be lax in the way they were dressed, and one commentator noted that ‘there is no need for the legs [of trousers] to be covered in mud’. There was also a prejudice in most offices in favour of clean collars. Ties, it was recommended, should be chosen ‘with discretion’. It was accepted that other clerks, particularly the managing clerk, no matter how disliked, should be treated with respect at all times. The solicitor engaged the senior clerk to supervise the work of juniors, and he was, next, to the principal, ‘the most important man’ in the office.

A minority of office staff became shorthand clerks and many an amusing story has been told regarding their gaffes. On one occasion the principal dictated to his clerk that ‘the Solicitor’s allocator would swallow up the whole estate’; the stenographer transcribed this as the ‘Solicitor’s alligator’ would swallow up the estate!

A vital task entrusted to the legal clerk included that of copying letters. Without the modern photocopier, the clerk was expected to write a legible copy of every letter that went out of the office. Where typewriters were used, carbon paper (actually invented as long ago as 1801) served for copying purposes. Clerks were also expected to index the letter book and the junior’s first task in the morning was that of indexing the letters copied on the previous day. This involved a straightforward procedure but careful attention had to be taken in carrying out this procedure.

Handwriting that was clear and legible was an essential prerequisite in legal offices. In many firms typewriting was forbidden, so a neat and quick handwriting was essential for all clerks. Solicitors complained that elementary education fell short of teaching pupils the style that was desired in offices. It was claimed that ‘the letters are ill-formed and ugly, the writing is cramped, slow and difficult, and in but few instances is it adapted to the requirements of a solicitor’s office’. Some colleges specialised in giving legal clerks training. A correspondence course in handwriting and shorthand, for example, was provided by Alston College in Burnley.

An overriding problem was where overtime was not financially rewarded. Some took the viewpoint that there was a definite case for overtime to be abolished altogether. The critics claimed that no clerk could work overtime without making serious sacrifices to his period for rest, recreation and self-improvement. A related argument was that if the clerk was continually expected to do overtime, then he would eventually become ‘stale’, with the result that his output would suffer in quality. The principal could not get the best out of his clerks for more than a reasonable number of hours, and the policy of practically unlimited overtime, as it existed in some offices, was very demanding, and affected adversely both the employer and employee.

On the other hand, it is obvious that even in the best organised offices, occasions arose where urgent work, requiring the personal attention of the legal clerk, had to be undertaken. In fact, the practice’s reputation could hinge on the ability to meet certain deadlines. On these grounds, the case for the abolition of overtime seemed unfounded, but there can be no doubt about the importance of reasonable remuneration for the extra hours put in. The payment of overtime, it was also argued, should be on a regular scale, and graduated according to the standing of the clerk.

The issue of overtime continued to focus attention on the cause of friction between the employer and employee, both of whom in other respects enjoyed a good working relationship. Ralph Pond, a managing clerk who had started as a junior some 20 years before, maintained that if clerks are paid a fair ‘living wage’, according to their ability, overtime should be abolished. Pond also knew of cases where the principals held out the prospect of overtime to prospective clerks as an inducement to them to accept positions at a ‘cutting’ wage. Burning the midnight oil for no extra pay, or perhaps earning as little as three halfpence per folio, for work that could not be done in ordinary office hours, was unacceptable but sometimes unavoidable.

Of more significance, a good working relationship between the principal and the clerk was vital to the efficient running of the practice but the attitude of solicitors to their employees was not always what it should have been. In some instances, clerks had their lives embittered by the lack of consideration by those in whose business they played such an important part. They could be the victim of every ‘peevish humour’ or frustration expressed by their employer. The clerk could be on the receiving end of an outburst by the solicitor where a mistake occurred in the course of his work.

In the vast majority of cases, the solicitor’s clerk was indeed poorly paid, often receiving not as much as a good artisan or mechanic, even though the work was very much more difficult and delicate, and carrying with it much responsibility. This was mainly caused by the supply of clerks outstripping the demand for them and it is clear that the legal labour market in London was overcrowded. In other localities, this was not always the case. In Birmingham, for example, three law clerks were made redundant as a result of a lack of business. Two of the clerks left the city, while the third, who had worked in legal offices for 40 years, found difficulty in finding new employment. Even a solicitor practising in Birmingham, on account of low demand, gave up his practice and took a managing clerkship with a firm in a different part of the country.

It can be said that the law clerks’ pay varied from practice to practice. One conveyancing clerk in 1907 secured a salary in London of £200 per annum, then quite a considerable wage. A managing clerk could hope to make about £100 per year. High pay was, though, quite rare, and a competent clerk could not expect a wage of more than £1 to £2 per week. The shorthand clerk who mainly did the correspondence, typewriting and book-keeping did not receive more than 35s per week. In Edwardian England, the projection for the future was that a solicitors’ office would consist of qualified lawyers, female typists and office boys.

Some clerks felt that their prospects were governed by what they made of their opportunities. Yet no matter how well or hard he worked, quite often a clerk could ultimately attain no more than a managing clerkship. Where a law clerk was ambitious and sought to become a solicitor, the road ahead was filled with pitfalls. A minority were tempted to be articled. In doing so, the clerk was forced to take a scanty living; he had to work hard during office hours and study hard for long periods. £80 had to be paid for the stamp on his articles; there were books to buy; examinations fees to pay and if successful in the finals, he had to pay £25 for admission to the roll of solicitors. Moreover, a practising certificate cost about £6 per annum. The financial requirements were so great that he could only in most cases hope to remain a clerk, and even though qualified, he was entitled to no extra pay.

One exceptional clerk did qualify and practise as a solicitor. He started as a junior at a salary of 7s per week. His duties were to copy and post letters and to enter visitors’ names in a book. The pressure of work was not that great and he found that he had much spare time on his hands. With the aid of a textbook, he set about learning shorthand. An opening arose for a promotion and he took it. To gain more knowledge about the legal system, his solicitor paid the subscription for a law library. After much effort the law clerk passed the solicitors’ examinations – preliminary, intermediate and final – and his articles were arranged. His employer offered him a partnership but for good reasons he turned it down, and eventually accepted a partnership elsewhere. But intelligent and competent law clerks would generally find that the process of entering the senior branches of the profession would prove to be very daunting.

There were very few women law clerks and they were barred from becoming solicitors and barristers, though in Paris, the call of women to the Bar was permissible. The case of Miss Maclaren went before the Court of Sessions at Edinburgh and it was decided that she was ineligible to practise as a solicitor. And this was in spite of her having gained law degrees at the University of Edinburgh; instead she became a law clerk.

Miscellaneous records detailing the work of the law clerk exist universally across Britain. A useful starting-point is the TNA (see box) in terms not only of its collections but also of regional and local record offices throughout the land.

Law clerks in Victorian and Edwardian Britain paved the way for modern paralegals employed by law offices to perform a variety of tasks, even though they are not necessarily qualified to practice law. New office technology and comparative improvements in pay and conditions have changed the working environment and financial rewards. There are now also far more women in the profession and in legal administrative positions.

A review of legal clerks’ status and terms of employment shows that this employment did offer a degree of social mobility, but for the majority the pay and conditions and the discipline required to carry out their work demanded extensive sacrifice and dedication.