Allen & Overy launches diversity targets to retain BAME lawyers
Law firm Allen & Overy (A&O) has set new diversity targets after research revealed that black and ethnic minority lawyers had shorter tenures at the firm when compared to their white counterparts.
A&O’s ethnicity ‘Stay Gap’ analysis, carried out by research company Pirical, found that black lawyers leave the firm two years and five months earlier than their white colleagues, while Asian and minority ethnic lawyers leave the firm seven months earlier.
The firm announced a raft of targets following the publication of the research on Monday July 29. The new aims include 15% ethnic minority partners at the firm by 2025; 25% ethnic minority lawyers and support staff by 2025; and 35% ethnic minority trainees, including 10% black trainees, every year.
A&O also plans to ensure that retention rates for trainees become more equal, and will particularly focus on the retention of more black associates. The firm has committed to publishing its updated ethnicity ‘Stay Gap’ research every year.
A&O's UK diversity and inclusion partner Ian Field said: “We must all play our part in creating a truly inclusive workplace and for us that starts with accountability. The stay gap figure is an uncomfortable truth for us and the legal industry but it gives us an objective way to measure the success of our efforts in this area. We want to be clear that we recognise the problems within our own firm and are committed to tackling them head on.”
Last month, 17 leading UK law firms pledged to combat the career obstacles faced by black and ethnic minority lawyers by signing a Race Fairness Commitment (RFC), a diversity recruitment firm.
While most leading City law firms now recruit cohorts of graduate trainees that are as ethnically diverse as the population, ethnic diversity at entry level has not led to sufficient ethnic diversity at management level, according to research by Rare.
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