The Slanted Spirit Of The Law: The Need For Legal Organisations To Catalyse Corporate Change

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Diversity and inclusion has become a common talking point since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, but are current efforts enough to change the experience of Black and other ethnically diverse professionals in the UK’s legal sector? 

Recently, a top London Firm, Macfarlanes, said “We still have a long way to go,” in its drive to improve diversity.  It is not an uncommon retort for organisations who have failed to meet the level of expectation around diversity and inclusion, or have been seen to be complacent around the inclusion agenda.

It would appear that the legal sector is lacking some momentum in its drive to cultivate a systemically driven focus around fostering diversity, equity and inclusion, through which demonstrable outcomes can be achieved in the area of racial equity and inclusion. 

Recent data suggests that half of Black lawyers who qualified in 2016 have since left the legal profession. With high attrition rates for Black junior lawyers, and less than 25% of partners in UK Law firms being women in 2021, clearly there is a need to accelerate the pace at which diversity, equity and inclusion is embedded into the sector.

Gender, Race and Ethnicity

Data clearly shows that diversity and inclusion results fair better across gender, than race and ethnicity. On gender, figures suggest that whilst there has been a marked increase in efforts to increase diversity in this area, top firm. However, the data points to modest improvement when it comes to the gender pay gap at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

A recent report focused on the numbers of women in FTSE 100 Boardroom roles, which includes several top law firms, had increased 39% in a decade.  Of the report, the Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights, noted the figures did not capture the ‘shocking lack of diversity.’

Disturbingly, for ethnicity, data suggests that large law firms with 50+ partners, are performing noticeably worse  and have fewer women and people from ethnically diverse backgrounds at partner level.

Paul McFarlane, a Partner at Capsticks Solicitors LLB, understands the challenges he had to overcome within the industry. Although he admits that the legal industry has come a long way since he started his career in the legal profession in the 1990’s, he maintains that “we still have a lot left to do”, conceding that the industry still has challenges in terms of racial representation. 

Paul is also Board Member of the Black Solicitors Network, which was established in 1995. The network is the primary voice for Black Solicitors in the England and Wales, committed to achieving equality of access, retention and promotion of black solicitors. One of the principle aims of the network, is to represent Black solicitors and ensure that their views are articulated, and heard, within the profession, The Law Society, media and other relevant bodies. 

Clearly, there have been better results across gender, than for racial and ethnically focussed inclusion. On diversity, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) noted in a recent regulatory news release that diversity continues to improve but there is more to do.  Anna Bradley, Chair of the regulator said ‘Diversity for Black, Asian and minority ethnic solicitors and women at senior levels is a particular challenge at larger firms. We know that many firms have excellent initiatives in place to address progression and retention, but there is clearly more to be done.”

More Needs to Be Done.

Not to fall out of step with the industry in calling for ‘more to be done’, this research report commissioned by the Law Society in 2020, speaks to representation. marginalisation, barriers, organisational culture and microaggressions, amongst other areas, that serve to reinforce negative experiences of Black professionals within the industry.  The research provides a strong evidence base for determining the amount of progress made in improving ethnic diversity at all levels of the profession, identifying disparities and issues. 

Nearly two years following the murder of George Floyd and the global outcry against racial discrimination and marginalisation, the question remains… is the legal sector doing enough? 

Citing ‘we need to do more’ as a response to lack of progress is tantamount to performative allyship, in an industry which is governed by regulation and works to support and defend all under the law.

More should be done to ensure that the legal profession supports inclusion and equity.  More must be done to ensure that all within the industry work within the letter, and the spirit of the law, to ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion becomes a mainstay of culture, behaviours and systems within the industry. 

Carmen Morris is a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant and strategist, and Founder and Managing Director of Kenroi Consulting, a global diversity and inclusion consultancy.  She is also a speaker on Diversity and inclusion and a Former Forbes Contributor.