Twelve more law firms pledge to tackle career barriers for BAME lawyers
A dozen law firms, including Baker McKenzie and Bird & Bird, have pledged to tackle the career obstacles faced by black, Asian and minority ethnic lawyers, by signing the Race Fairness Commitment (RFC).
The firms, which also include Bird & Bird, Burges Salmon, BWB, Clyde & Co, Dechert, Fieldfisher, Gowling, Stephenson Harwood, Mishcon de Reya, Taylor Wessing, and Withers, signed the commitment yesterday, August 27.
The firms have taken this initiative in partnership with Rare, a diversity recruitment specialist, in which they commit to build on efforts to recruit, nurture and retain BAME talent in their organisations. They join 17 other law firms which signed back in July.
The RFC draws on data-driven techniques to reveal and tackle organisational weaknesses unfairly holding back BAME staff.
By signing the RFC, the firms agree to monitor interview and offer rates, retention rates, pay and promotion rates as they relate to ethnic minority lawyers.
The RFC also includes a commitment to foster workplaces where BAME people can be themselves at work rather than feeling they have to change the way they behave to “fit in”.
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.
Eifion Morris, chief executive, Stephenson Harwood, said: "When it comes to ethnic diversity, law firms have a lot to do; we have a lot to do. But we are committed to change. Cross-sector collaboration, and commitments like this, challenge and support us to take meaningful action that will make a lasting difference. I'm really pleased to sign us up.”
Sarah Gregory, Baker McKenzie inclusion & diversity partner, said: "We are excited to be signing the Race Fairness Commitment and have the opportunity, together with Rare recruitment and other UK businesses, to seize the moment to act on workplace race equality and to make a real change to the experience of ethnic minority colleagues. By signing, we are agreeing to a number of important actions which supplement our existing focus on achieving our targets for ethnicity, especially at senior level."
In the US, Grant Thornton also unveiled efforts to bolster its diversity and inclusion commitments yesterday, including donating $300,000 apiece to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which both promote the interests of BAME talent.
The firm has also named Weird Enough Productions, a startup that combats media misrepresentations of minority communities, as part of its Purple Paladins programme, which supports emerging nonprofit organisations.
In addition, Grant Thornton will make its “unconscious bias training” mandatory and will continue to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion sessions into firmwide conferences and programmes for new staff. The “unconscious bias training” helps lawyers recognise their prejudices.
The firm will also expand the range of schools from which it recruits students and update its recruiting process to recognise the value of diverse backgrounds. The firm has added Martin Luther King Jr Day as a paid holiday each year — allowing its staff time to reflect on King’s accomplishments and to participate in civic activities.
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