Equal opportunities in the legal profession
The legal system is founded upon the principles of fairness and equality. Yet, when it comes to firms’ diversity policies, is everyone really equal in the eyes of the law? Find out what legal recruiters are doing to improve equal opportunities in their profession.
The legal profession has long been regarded as one of the most closed sectors when it comes to employing women and ethnic minority groups. Over the last 50 years, as Britain has become much more culturally rich, solicitors’ firms have been notably slower to foster ethnic talent – but all that is changing.
In 2004 over 24 per cent of students registered with the Law Society were from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to 14 per cent in 1990. While this may still seem low, the figure is in fact largely representative of the ethnic make-up of England and Wales, confirming that graduate talent is successfully entering and flourishing within the legal profession.
Today, the issue of diversity is taken extremely seriously by law firms. They are looking to attract the most promising future lawyers and ensure that sources of recruitment are as far reaching as possible to attract the most talented individuals, irrespective of background, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. This approach is certainly working: up to quite recently many firms had a zero per cent ethnic trainee intake, whereas some now predict an ethnic intake of over 30 per cent for 2007/8.
In 2004 over 24 per cent of students registered with the Law Society were from ethnic minority backgrounds
Creating the right workforce
Law firms are first and foremost clientfacing businesses and success, reputation and profitability in the global marketplace derives from having a culturally diverse workforce that effectively represents modern society and client demographics. Clients can place great emphasis on their legal team’s ethnic make-up. In the US, market giant Wal-Mart took the decision to drop two leading firms as it was unhappy with the lack of diversity in its legal team. While high-profile corporate pressure of this kind has certainly made many firms seriously reassess recruitment procedures, proactive change has been happening steadily within the legal profession, especially in recent years.
Change rooted in the law
In 2003 the Employment Equality (Religion or Beliefs) Regulations came into effect, laying the foundations from which solicitors’ firms have actively been growing and nurturing a more culturally diverse and unified workforce. In 2004 a major audit of leading law firms’ diversity statistics was launched by Global Graduates, an organisation promoting ethnic diversity in the legal sector: leading City firms cemented their commitment to workplace equality by signing a statement of intent. This led to many firms independently assessing and readdressing their own policies, as well as releasing recruitment and retention data, so that progress could be monitored.
While some of the leading firms have been slow to release diversity data it’s certainly not a reflection on the wider profession. Many firms have been addressing employees’ inclusivity concerns for years, choosing to quietly introduce measures that support staff without singling out any differences. The majority happily embrace cultural and religious differences and are actively looking for ways to foster inclusion at all levels.
Many assign trainees and new associates a mentor (usually a senior associate or partner) who can alleviate any concerns and advise on career paths. Others have opted to appoint a diversity or inclusivity manager to oversee the implementation of diversity policy and to handle the concerns of staff. Other measures firms have introduced include:
- recognising religious holidays
- having dedicated prayer rooms
- dress policies that support different faiths and beliefs
- canteen menus that cater for religious dietary requirements.
Grass roots recruitment initiatives in the legal profession
While law is incredibly competitive and requires a consistently strong academic performance, many students wrongly believe that you need to have an Oxbridge or redbrick university degree to make it as a lawyer. In fact, it doesn’t matter what university a student attends. Academic achievements form only part of the recruitment process and employers look for well-rounded candidates who also fit with the firm’s culture and bring that ‘something extra’ to the table.
Firms have widened their traditional recruitment catchment areas to include new universities and cities that have a large multi-cultural population. Law firms and universities are actively working with diversity programmes, such as TARGETchances City Law and TARGETchances regional law, to encourage a broader cross-section of students to consider a legal career. In 2007, 20 leading firms took part and granted first-year university students access to their firms and staff, as well as participating in panel discussions and an interactive legal case study exercise. Students attending the event were able to gain a better knowledge of City law firms and their attitudes towards diversity and the event gave those attending the ideal opportunity to speak with lawyers at all levels and to experience first-hand a day in the life of a busy lawyer.
Forging equality
Contrary to some media reports, the majority of law firms are dedicated and committed to creating a multicultural workforce by recruiting a diverse spread of talent. Equal opportunity incentives and workplace change are all very positive moves in the right direction and because of this the profession is becoming more transparent and accessible for students of all backgrounds. Diversity is much more than just a buzzword or a tick-box exercise within the legal world – it’s a very real move towards creating an equal working environment for everyone while supporting and encouraging developing talent through the ranks.
Support networks in the legal profession
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