Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession
Second edition
The Centre for Legal Leadership
Published: 2022
Pages: 168
eBook: 9781787422841
The second edition has been fully updated to take into account the pandemic and the adverse impact this has had on diversity and inclusion, along with other developments and includes new chapters on belief, ageism, mental health and intersectionality.
The second edition has been fully updated to take into account the pandemic and the adverse impact this has had on diversity and inclusion, along with other developments. Each of the report's nine chapters has been written by an expert with direct experience and knowledge in their specialist field.
New chapters featured in this edition include:
Belief;
Ageism;
Mental health; and
Intersectionality.
This new edition will provide essential reading for all organisations committed to inclusion and diversity across the modern workplace.
Table of Contents
| Cover | Cover | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | 1 | |
| Copyright | 2 | |
| Table of contents | 3 | |
| Foreword | 7 | |
| I. Trans and non-binary inclusion in the legal workspace | 9 | |
| 1. Introduction | 9 | |
| 2. Why does trans and non-binary inclusion matter? | 10 | |
| 3. The trouble with labels | 11 | |
| 4. What’s up with UK law? | 17 | |
| 5. Trans and non-binary inclusion around the world | 21 | |
| 6. First steps towards trans and non-binary inclusion | 21 | |
| 7. Recruitment and employment | 22 | |
| 8. A company’s ‘trans brand’ | 24 | |
| 9. Transition (or change of gender expression) in the workplace | 25 | |
| 10. Those troublesome toilets | 28 | |
| 11. Why allies matter | 28 | |
| 12. Questions you should never ask a trans or non-binary person (but which people frequently do) | 29 | |
| 13. Trans and non-binary inclusion under lockdown | 30 | |
| 14. Help and support | 33 | |
| 15. And finally … | 33 | |
| II. Social mobility in law – where’s the equity and justice? | 35 | |
| 1. Social mobility in the United Kingdom – a crisis? | 35 | |
| 2. Social mobility and law – an inspired relationship? | 36 | |
| 3. The current state of affairs – a desperate need to level up | 39 | |
| 4. What more can be done? | 40 | |
| 5. Conclusion | 47 | |
| III. “Hidden and in the profession”: disability in the workplace | 49 | |
| 1. Introduction | 49 | |
| 2. Definition of ‘disability’ | 49 | |
| 3. Disclosing your disability | 51 | |
| 4. Recommendations | 57 | |
| IV. Race and ethnicity – everyone has a story | 63 | |
| 1. My story | 63 | |
| 2. Rebuilding myself | 65 | |
| 3. Cultural differences in the workplace | 66 | |
| 4. Creating inclusive and empathetic workplaces | 67 | |
| 5. Cultural transformation through storytelling | 69 | |
| V. Women in the law | 71 | |
| 1. Introduction | 71 | |
| 2. Changing demographics | 72 | |
| 3. Strategic imperatives | 72 | |
| 4. How we work | 75 | |
| 5. Breaking the glass ceiling | 81 | |
| 6. Intersectionality | 87 | |
| 7. | 90 | |
| 8. The power of the client | 92 | |
| 9. Conclusion | 94 | |
| VI. Belief | 97 | |
| 1. Belief | 97 | |
| 2. Belief and business | 99 | |
| 3. Belief and origins | 102 | |
| 4. Belief and identity | 106 | |
| 5. Belief and community | 107 | |
| 6. Belief and praxis | 110 | |
| 7. Belief and the law | 111 | |
| 8. Belief and conflict | 113 | |
| 9. Belief and secularism | 114 | |
| 10. Belief and policies | 115 | |
| 11. Afterword | 117 | |
| VII. “Age is but a number”: ensuring that multi-generational working adds up for the legal industry | 119 | |
| 1. Introduction | 119 | |
| 2. Starting out – challenges for young talent | 120 | |
| 3. Future thinking for future lawyers | 121 | |
| 4. The juggle is real – managing family and work life | 124 | |
| 5. Practical solutions to practical problems | 125 | |
| 6. Over and out – why does the legal industry write off older talent? | 127 | |
| 7. Rethinking work for older professionals | 129 | |
| 8. Is there a role for the profession in attacking ageism more widely? | 130 | |
| 9. Conclusions | 130 | |
| VIII. At a crossroads with intersectionality | 133 | |
| 1. Introduction | 133 | |
| 2. A potted (and by no means complete) history | 134 | |
| 3. Legally speaking: the rise and fall of Section 14 | 139 | |
| 4. The common siloed approach – should this still be the direction of D&I travel? | 142 | |
| 5. How we can individually and collectively take a more ‘intersectional’ approach | 145 | |
| IX. Mental health and wellbeing in the legal community | 149 | |
| 1. What do we mean by ‘mental health’? | 149 | |
| 2. A perfect storm | 151 | |
| 3. Healthy justice needs healthy lawyers | 153 | |
| 4. About LawCare – our vision | 154 | |
| 5. Fit for Law | 156 | |
| 6. The post-pandemic legal environment | 157 | |
| 7. Building a better culture in legal workplaces | 158 | |
| 8. Reframe the narrative | 160 | |
| About the authors | 162 | |
| About Globe Law and Business | 168 | |
| About The Centre for Legal Leadership | 169 |
Emma Cusdin
Director, Global Butterflies
People director, Aviva PLC
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-cusdin-she-her-hers-2a89615/
Emma Cusdin has over 20 years’ experience in HR, having worked for global financial services organisations. She is currently a people director with Aviva and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Emma is an openly trans* woman, having transitioned in 2009, and she is passionate about raising awareness of trans* issues. Emma has spoken at many trans* events organised by leading private sector companies. She has been featured in the Financial Times and has contributed to a number of blogs, including for HuffPost and HRZone. She was delighted to receive the Positive LGBT Role Model award at the National Diversity Awards in 2017 and she appeared in The Telegraph’s OUT at Work 2016 Top 50 UK LGBT Executives. Emma co-founded Trans*formation, the UK’s largest professional networking organisation for trans* individuals, their friends and colleagues.
Parham Kouchikali
Partner, RPC
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/parham-kouchikali-60319bb7/
Parham Kouchikali is a litigation partner, specialising in high profile and complex financial litigation. He also has extensive experience of investigations in corporate and contentious regulatory settings, acting for corporates and individuals in enforcement actions. He leads RPC’s ethnicity workstream.
Emma Maksimovic
Freelance writer and consultant
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-maksimovic-she-her-hers-43634626/
Emma Maksimovic is a former journalist who is passionate about making the world a more inclusive place. Having spent more than 10 years of her professional life in journalism, Emma moved into the world of corporate communications before finally taking on a role in diversity and inclusion. She instigated a major cultural shift within the firm she worked for, and pushed the workforce to become more inclusive. She is currently a freelance writer and consultant, working with a number of organisations on employee engagement and communications content.
Marc May
Senior legal engineer, SYKE
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-may-84b40816/
Marc May is a senior legal engineer at international legal technology consultancy SYKE.
He is a social mobility advocate, primarily as a result of his own experience qualifying as a solicitor. He qualified in 2016 via the equivalent means route (“I honestly didn't believe I would ever get a training contract given my background”).
Marc embarked on a career in law having no A-Levels, a working class upbringing and no connection to the profession, and has written a number of articles on how he qualified, mentoring over 30 people wishing to pursue the same route.
While in a previous role at RPC he was heavily involved with a working group tasked with improving social mobility within the firm, and through that he took part in school outreach aimed at making the legal profession accessible to children at a local underperforming school.
Catherine McGregor
CEO, Catherine McGregor Research
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-catherine-mcgregor-mcmi-chmc-787b354/
Catherine McGregor is passionately interested in the role of inside counsel in determining the future of legal services. She developed GC Magazine to focus on the intersection of business and management issues in relation to the role of the modern global general counsel. She is a long-time advocate of diversity and inclusion in the law.
Catherine works as an independent adviser to law firms and legal departments around the world. Her work is focused on thought leadership and consultancy on key practical challenges for modern legal departments, in-house lawyers and their companies and related opportunities for advisers that understanding their clients can bring. She is editor-in-chief of Diversity & The Bar, the magazine of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the leading not-for-profit association promoting inclusion and diversity in the US legal profession. She also writes, speaks and delivers workshops on inclusion and diversity in law.
Her website is at www.catherinemcgregor.co.uk.
Gillian O’Regan
Associate, RPC
gillian.o'[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillian-o-regan/
Gill O'Regan advises clients on a broad range of commercial disputes across a variety of sectors. Gill acts on complex financial and commercial litigation, often involving multiple jurisdictions. She has experience advising on antitrust disputes, bribery and corruption and a broad range of regulatory investigations. Gill has authored various articles including “Preserving costs consequences of a settlement offer – a cautionary tale” and “Challenging judgments allegedly obtained by fraud”, published by the International Law Office in April and December 2018 respectively.
Steven Ramesh Rajavinothan
Associate, RPC
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-ramesh-rajavinothan/
Steven Ramesh Rajavinothan is a disputes resolution associate, advising clients on a variety of arbitration and litigation matters. Steven is committed to improving access to law for BAME individuals and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. He has authored articles including on how to obtain a training contract; delivered numerous training sessions on key skills; and mentored students and trainee lawyers to assist with their development.
Rachel Reese
Director, Global Butterflies
[email protected]
https://globalbutterflies.com/rachel-reese/
Rachel Reese originally trained as an avionics software engineer, working within the defence sector at British Aerospace, later transferring to a senior position within the human resources function. An interest in employment law led her to study for the Solicitors’ Final Examinations and join the University of Law, where she worked for 15 years in various senior operational roles before becoming operations director.
Rachel is founder and director of Global Butterflies, a company that helps businesses to create trans*-inclusive environments. She is vice-chair of The Law Society LGBT Lawyers Division Committee representing trans* solicitors working within the legal profession, and is a trans* ambassador for Aspiring Solicitors. She also works with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in matters relating to trans inclusion, and is a trustee of GiveOut, a charity that funds LGBT+ causes worldwide.
Rachel was nominated for the European Diversity Awards’ Coca-Cola Hero of the Year in 2017. In 2018 she addressed the Pride In London Gala Dinner on the subject of trans* rights in the UK.
Yasmin Sheikh
Founder, Diverse Matters
Coach, consultant, speaker and trainer
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trainingondiversity/
Yasmin Sheikh is a former lawyer and the founder of Diverse Matters (www.diversematters.org), a consultancy in diversity issues specialising in disability in the workplace.
Yasmin helps organisations empower their workforce to be disabilityconfident through her consultancy services, workshops, coaching and disability-focused events. She also helps organisations become more inclusive, thereby increasing profitability and improving staff retention.
She is a multi-award-winning international speaker, TEDx speaker (www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uiu2ndZo8c); 2018 winner of the NatWest Asian Women of Achievement Awards for her work in tackling preconceptions about disability, LGBT and ethnic minorities; vice-chair of Lawyers with Disabilities; and a Council member at the Law Society. She also recently won Changemaker of the Year, awarded by the Professional Speakers’ Academy for her work in changing cultures in organisations.