The Minority Lawyers Conference was held last weekend. For many students and young solicitors, and indeed myself, it was inspiring to see and hear successful BME speakers such as Attorney General Lady Scotland, Diane Abbot MP, Mrs Justice Dobbs and Cordella Bart-Stewart.

I walked away from the conference with mixed emotions, nevertheless. The event also demonstrated that, although there has undoubtledly been progress, it has been painfully slow: witness the lack of BME lawyers appointed to the judiciary; government cuts disproportionately affecting BME lawyers; disconnection with our own communities; significant inequalities in pay; and unequal access to the profession’s higher echelons.

The Judicial Appointments Commission predictably came under fire. As barrister and former chair of the Society of Asian Lawyers Sailesh Mehta put it, the phrase ‘don’t be shy – apply’ when considering a career with the judiciary has more often than not been met with the words ‘don’t be dejected when you get rejected’ by BME lawyers.

Peter Herbert, Society of Black Lawyers chair, went further and said the organisation ‘was not fit for purpose’ in its present state.

The conference was called ‘less talk, more action’, and indeed we’ve been talking about action for years. Surely there comes a time when it is all about delivery?

The event should be seen as a celebration of BME lawyers’ achievements and, in many ways, it was. But I hope many of the students and young people entering the profession today are not fighting these same battles in 10 or 20 years’ time. I am not wholly confident that they won’t be.