I. Stephanie Boyce: ‘Keep talking and measuring’

“Organisations have a false sense of being diverse and inclusive when it comes to race because they have failed to recognise the differing experiences of different communities.”

Law firms have been vocal about their D&I efforts in 2020. What are the key issues that need to be addressed?

George Floyd’s death in 2020 and the Black Lives Matter protests have shone a bright light on the systemic racism and inequalities which exist in all aspects of our society. The legal profession is no exception. Racism in the workplace can be subtle and often manifests as unconscious bias.

The legal profession has done a lot of soul-searching in the last year to understand and uproot barriers to progression in the profession. In the months following George Floyd’s death, The Law Society held a series of roundtables with a focus on the experiences of black solicitors.

We have joined the #10000BlackInterns initiative, which offers paid work experience to young black people in the UK to help address the underrepresentation of black talent in many industries.

We also released new research shedding light on the experiences of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) solicitors in the law, to provide insight on which to build a more inclusive profession.

Our research found that 17.5% of practising holders come from BAME groups. This is higher than the national average of 14.1% of the wider working population. Breaking these figures down further, 10% of the solicitors identify as Asian while only 3% of the profession identify as black.

Is there a danger that this momentum could be lost?

We all have a role to play in helping maintain the momentum. Creating the change we all want to see in society and the profession, in which there is real equality of opportunity and similar rates of progression and representation at all levels, will take time but we need to have clear objectives and focus.

This can be done through setting targets, by focusing on the evidence about what the specific barriers are at each stage of career development, and by continuing the conversations that have opened up about race, particularly with those in the majority population and allies in the workplace.

Do different diverse groups need to be approached differently? If so, how?

Absolutely. The Law Society’s Race for Inclusion research published last year identified the need to focus not just on the BAME group.

Additionally, experiences differ within that BAME group and different groups have faced different kinds of discrimination, stereotyping and barriers. To make progress we need to understand and be prepared to tailor interventions to different needs.

Organisations have a false sense of being diverse and inclusive when it comes to race because they have failed to recognise the differing experiences of different communities.

Do targets actually work? If so, why haven’t previous targets worked?

Targets can work. For example, companies achieved the targets that were set for women on boards of FTSE100 companies by the Davies Review, a UK government-backed commission introduced in 2010 to examine the under-representation of women on boards.

Part of the problem is that people set targets without making realistic roadmaps to achieving them. Target-setting on its own is not going to make change happen.”

How is success measured? How can law firms ensure that leaders do not just pay lip service to these goals?

Success is relative for all organisations. However, you will know if you are on the road to success based on the experiences of the people you work with and by what your data is telling you, so keep talking and measuring.

Additionally, it is important that success is measured over time. If we use targets as an example, targets must be monitored over the duration of time that the target is set in order to evaluate actions taken to reach those targets. This will keep firms accountable and committed to change, and not just paying lip service to these stated aims.

Why isn’t compensation linked more to D&I efforts?

More firms are openly recognising D&I efforts through initiatives such as counting hours spent on D&I towards billable hour targets.

However, when it comes to remuneration and bonuses, many firms are unsure how this would work or could be measured.

“The legal profession has done a lot of soul-searching in the last year to understand and uproot barriers to progression in the profession.” I. Stephanie Boyce, The Law Society of England and Wales

The benefit of linking compensation to D&I efforts is that it sends a clear message from the top that the firm is serious about inclusion, but the practical challenge of how this can be measured and matched against renumeration may explain why firms are hesitant to take this approach.

What has been the pandemic’s effect on D&I efforts?

The Law Society is monitoring the impact COVID-19 is having on women lawyers and solicitors from diverse backgrounds.

In March, we published our new Practical Toolkit for Women in Law, which shows that there is still much further to go to achieve greater equality for women lawyers globally.

More than 300 respondents across six continents found that women in the law still face significant barriers to progression, including unconscious bias, unequal pay, a lack of support when speaking out about instances of sexual harassment in the workplace and the “double burden” women face when juggling caring responsibilities and work commitments.

The use of technology, which has been invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic, was found by some respondents to have been highly productive, especially for those women lawyers with caring responsibilities.

Through the interviews and surveys, we found some common tips for the profession to implement to help women lawyers succeed. These include focusing on gender equality initiatives, mentoring programmes and support for those entering the profession, all of which will help shift the dial on gender equality in the law.