The Law Society Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Charter launched in 2009. It provides a model by which individual legal practices can make a public commitment to improve all aspects of equality in their businesses. Signatories are required to report annually on their activity and progress towards equality, diversity and inclusion and provide data on the diversity profile of their workforce.
The 2011 annual review report presents the results of the firms' self assessment and an overview of the diversity profile of the legal sector workforce across the cohort firms.
The report also spotlights the readiness of Charter signatories to meet proposed regulatory requirements for monitoring, and illustrates their progress towards monitoring and reporting on diversity.
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Summary
The Diversity Charter annual review report 2011 has been compiled from the submissions of 159 second year eligible signatory law firms. The reporting method is based on self assessment against a set of equality and diversity standards and completion of a template on monitoring diversity data.
Signatory practices were asked to rate themselves at one of three levels (red, amber or green) against each of the eight business areas within the standards:
- Leadership and vision
- Employment and staff development
- Provision of legal services
- Engagement with staff, clients and community
- Policy making and practice development
- Monitoring and review
- Procurement and supplier diversity
- Sharing good practice
Summary of analysis
159 signatories signed up to the charter by April 2011. The number of individual solicitors profiled in the 2011 reporting cohort represents more than a third of all solicitors working in private practice.
Many practices are taking steps to develop equality and diversity. Some are leading at best practice level. However, some practices still need to work to ensure the foundations for equality and diversity are firmly in place. Overall, whilst there are examples of success, more work remains to be done before practices across the cohort can reap the benefits equality and diversity offers
There is a strong leadership commitment to equality and diversity across the cohort with all firms having a partner or senior level equivalent that encourages equality and diversity.
The majority of firms have essential policies in place to support equality and diversity and firms are taking action to ensure staff have the knowledge and skills to support equality and diversity.
Priority areas for action are identified as:
- Focus on achieving positive E&D outcomes and ensuring that policies are working successfully in practice;
- Ensuring equality and diversity in all aspects of employment and staff development to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and Principle 9 of the Solicitors Code of Conduct.
- Putting workforce monitoring in place to be able to report on individual's role and their characteristics including: race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief and socio-economic status - in order to meet the requirements of the Legal Services Board statutory guidance.
- Delivering equal pay.
- Embedding responsibility for equality and diversity into everyone's role.
- Delivering web accessibility.
- Using engagement with staff and communities as a lever for improving equality and diversity outcomes.
Conclusion
Since its launch in 2009, the Charter has steadily grown. Already more than a third of all solicitors in private practice work in a firm that has joined the Charter movement. The Charter works for all kinds of legal practices. Its signatories include many of the largest law firms, an increasing number of medium and small sized firms and in-house departments in the private and public sector.
Charter signatories are in the vanguard of change, working collaboratively to drive up standards in an inclusive and transparent manner. Demonstrable expertise and insight has been generated from sharing good-practice. The Law Society will continue to work closely with the profession in the coming year to maximise the opportunity the Charter presents to support excellence in the profession.