Diversity inside law firms is shifting from exceptional to expected

Large corporate law firms are commonly perceived as conservative, exclusive clubs which only hire more of the same to maintain the monoculture. However, thankfully times change, and over the course of a generation the clubby institution of the large law firm is transforming to an extent which would have been unthinkable a few decades ago.

Firms today are sensitive and responsive to the increasing demands and expectations of regulators, clients, and their own workforce to foster a gender and ethnic-conscious culture. They have realised that embracing diversity can positively drive strategic development – diversity attracts better talent, is more reflective of their clients and their clients’ customers, and helps generate a broader perspective and outlook, which results in better advice and decisions. Overall, this brings competitive advantage, which improves the business case and sustainability.

This shift in approach has resulted in even the most traditional firms adopting strategies which seek to improve the retention, promotion, and inclusion of women and other under-represented groups, appointing steering committees to promulgate strategies, and publicly committing to diversity and inclusion.

Individual firms’ initiatives range from women’s leadership programmes to establishing affinity groups based on culture, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, to individual sponsorship pairings enabling senior partners to champion junior diverse lawyers’ careers. Prospective candidates from diverse ethnicities or from underprivileged backgrounds may have access to pipeline and mentoring programs at some firms.

Reporting obligations under the gender pay gap legislation in the UK have shone some light on pay equality practices in large firms. The legislation requires employers with at least 250 employees to publish mean and median gender gap figures – however, it does not require that partners’ data is submitted as well. Considering that as many as 80 per cent of partners at top 50 law firms are men (according to a 2017 report by PwC), figures provided by firms showed a larger median pay gap when such partnership data was eventually provided following public criticism.

Sector-wide projects in the UK include the Law Society’s Diversity & Inclusion Charter, which promotes best practices in recruitment, retention, and career progression at law firms. In 2017, the Charter had 467 signatories, who represent more than a third of the legal profession in England and Wales. Meanwhile, pioneering initiatives have been instituted in the US, such as the Mansfield Rule which requires 30 per cent of a signatory firm’s leadership candidates to be minorities and women.

Client demand has impacted the intensity of firms’ diversity efforts as well. In the US, some large corporates who have made efforts to increase diversity internally are now requesting diversity statistics when selecting outside counsel and may request that a minimum percentage of female or ethnic minority lawyers work on their matters. It’s only a matter of time before a similar trend begins in the UK.

As with any major cultural change, while the rhetoric is shifting fast, attitudes can be slower to shift, and altering engrained behaviours even slower. While significant strides have been made, there is still some way to go before gender neutrality or seamless inclusion is achieved at law firms, especially at the partner and C-suite level.

The inbuilt unconscious biases and practical obstacles to true equality of opportunity remain in the legal sector in the same way as they remain in most other workplaces.

In order to continue the positive momentum and successfully deliver reform for current and future generations, law firms must take their own advice and adopt best practices in employee policies, collect and critically assess workforce statistics, offer equal pay to their partners, lawyers and staff and hold themselves accountable for diversity and inclusion targets in the same way that they do for other business objectives.