Diversity and inclusion has shown law firms remarkably at the forefront

The recent and wonderfully well supported Pride marches up and down the country during the months of June and July and has shown us the strides that have been taken in this country to fully integrate the LBGT Community. And as Recruiters, we pride ourselves on working with lawyers from all pockets of all societies and all backgrounds.

One of our recruiters proudly placed three LBGT Partners in to the same law firm within a year.

But, sadly, it hasn’t always been this way. Back in the 1980’s it was a very different atmosphere and one where any kind of support was difficult.

Over the last ten years or so, and largely driven by some wonderful HR teams, business has very much embraced support for the LBGT community. One particular professional area that always had a less than forward thinking image and was, if anything, seen as resistant to change has been the law firm. More likely to be in the Press for all the wrong HR issues, law firms are an unlikely place to be at the vanguard of this…. But that is precisely where they are wrong.

Let’s take a little look at the Stonewall Top 100 Employers Index, a marker of the most inclusive organisations in Britain today. Will we find any in the top ten? Well in fact we find three firms! Remarkable and extraordinarily pleasing:

- Pinsent Masons

- Baker McKenzie and

- BLP (as was)

So, just a few enlightened firms at the top but are the vast majority of firms ignoring the issue completely? Not in the slightest. For we then find:

- Clifford Chance at 11

- Norton Rose Fulbright at 19

- CMS and Travers Smith at 26

- Hogan Lovells at 31.

It goes on and on! All in all 18 firms in the Top 100, almost a fifth of all the organisations. A record that the law firms should be very proud to have.

So, maybe it is just enlightened HR teams in law firms, filling in the right forms, saying the right things? Is the reality for the day to day work force in line with full integration? Very much so.

The Stonewall gay role model of the year came from Slaughter & May, a Magic Circle firm as traditional and established as possible, a firm you might feel could be way behind most enlightened organisations. Not in the slightest. Krishna Omkar not only played a key role in the Slaughter & May LBGT network but outside of the firm was involved in an initiative to decriminalise same sex relations in India and helped to tackle homophobia in sport.

This important single aspect of Diversity and Inclusion has shown law firms remarkably at the forefront. Perhaps see what you can do to help at your firm?