In January, the government announced that the King had approved the award of Honorary King’s Counsel (KC Honoris Causa) to Peter Kandler, co-founder of the UK’s first law centre.
The Ministry of Justice stated that Kandler, who helped establish North Kensington Law Centre in 1970, was nominated for ‘transforming access to justice, inspiring the nationwide law centres movement and strengthening the legal profession’s commitment to rights and community-based practice’. His approach ‘helped give rise to social welfare law, including the development of new areas of practice such as housing law and criminal defence at police stations’.
Kandler received his award from lord chancellor David Lammy at Westminster Hall last month. ‘You would think after 1,000 years they would have proper heating in the hall, but they do not,’ he tells me.
The award was a surprise. ‘All of this was plotted behind my back. The first thing I knew about it was getting an email congratulating me.’
Kandler says it was gratifying to be recognised by the profession. ‘I got a letter from the president of the Law Society congratulating me. I wrote back with words to the effect of “we’ve come a long way since the Law Society refused to allow us to advertise”.’
By the mid-1970s, there were half a dozen or so law centres. ‘We went to see the Law Society and we planned what we would do in advance because we needed to advertise our services so that the poor and people in need would know about us… We went in for a discussion and planned our walkout. They said “come back” and agreed we could advertise.’
‘It’s still a conservative profession, though the Law Society has changed enormously over the years.’
Kandler’s family wanted him to become a lawyer. He wanted to be a historian. ‘I never really liked law… It took me three attempts to get the solicitors’ finals. It took four years instead of three to get a law degree at the LSE. I found the studying of law boring.’ But he ‘always enjoyed’ taking on judges and the police.
Kandler was articled to a 150-year-old probate and trust firm in Bedford Row, London. ‘It was a firm with lots of rich clients. Why they took me on, I have no idea.’
He believes he would have left the profession if he had not accidentally discovered the ‘left wing’ Partisan Coffee House in Soho. ‘I started going there regularly and got involved with the London New Left.’
Kandler was persuaded to get involved with community work in North Kensington, which was the fourth-poorest area in London. He helped set up three legal advice points. ‘Out of that grew an idea of actually forming something to help people. Professor Michael Zander came back with the idea of law centres. Astonishingly, of all places, America had some law centres. So, we decided to set one up.’
Kandler believes he was the first solicitor in the country to regularly attend the police station free of charge. He would later set up his own criminal defence firm, Peter Kandler & Co.
I could listen to Kandler talk all day about his career and he shares plenty of fascinating anecdotes during our chat. He recalls the establishment of North Kensington Law Centre thus: ‘The best headline came in the Sun. “Poor law in a butcher’s shop”. When we moved in, the hooks were still on the wall.’
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