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INCLUSIVE RECRUITMENT
HERE ARE JUST A FEW WAYS WE ARE LIVING OUR VALUES:
At Herbert Smith Freehills we celebrate the differences that make us unique. We understand the importance of building a culture that reflects and embraces the diversity of our people, our clients and the communities in which we do business. Embracing a diversity of backgrounds allows us to attract and retain the best talent. When our people bring their authentic selves to work and our teams harness diverse perspectives, we can provide the most considered and innovative advice to clients. Here are just a few ways we are working to recruit a diverse trainee cohort to further the firm’s values:
Our Women Lawyers and Women Trainee Lawyers networks both run events within our firm. Our Women Trainee Lawyers Network has also run a number of events on various university campuses across the UK. We are committed to achieving our gender targets in relation to increasing the proportion of women in the partnership and in key leadership roles. As of May 2019, 26% of our global partnership is women and 36% of those made partner this year were women.
GENDER
We are committed to improving access to the legal profession for all and we aim to ensure we give under-represented groups the chance to shine. We are proud to be ranked 15 in the top 50 UK employers by the Social Mobility Employer Index 2018. We sponsor the Rare Discuss programme for talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are interested in commercial law. Our partnership with Rare
Our Ability Network works closely with MyPlus Consulting to shape our workplace adjustments and ensure that everyone is supported in their role if they are affected by a physical or mental disability. We hold events for students with a disability through MyPlus and Aspiring Solicitors, where we explain the adjustments we can make to the assessment process to ensure everyone has equal access to our firm and to build confidence in talented students with a disability. We also run talks across multiple campuses to promote mental health awareness throughout the year.
ABILITY
Vantage also helps us to connect with exceptional candidates from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We use a contextual data system to allow us to understand the context in which a candidate has gained experience, so we don’t miss out on recruiting talented individuals. We also collaborate with Aspiring Solicitors to increase diversity throughout the legal profession through mentoring, coaching, workshops and application advice to students from lower
SOCIAL MOBILITY
socio-economic backgrounds. We have a dedicated Social Mobility Partner panel and we are also a founding member of PRIME, an alliance of UK law firms that aims to improve young people’s access to the legal sector.
We partner with Rare Recruitment who offer an introductory programme for top BAME students to the world of commercial law through ‘Articles’ and ‘Rare Foundations’. Our Roger Leyland Memorial Scholarship (in memory of Roger Leyland, the first black partner of the firm) provides exceptional black and minority ethnic students with a high level of financial support throughout their university studies, as well as work experience. We offer mentoring programmes for BAME future joiners and trainees and we have expanded on our relationship with Aspiring Solicitors to launch an industry-first mentoring scheme specifically for black students interested in a career in law. We will also be participating in the Aspiring Solicitors Culture event. We are a sponsor of Bright Network’s Black Heritage event, the University of Warwick’s Multicultural Scholars programme and The University of Cambridge’s MCL African-Asian Bursary. Outside of the UK, we offer penultimate-year law undergraduates studying at a university in India the opportunity to join our summer vacation schemes.
BAME
We have a market-leading and longstanding commitment to LGBT+ inclusion; we have been a Stonewall Top 100 Employer for the past 9 years, as well as a Top Global Employer. Our IRIS network co-founded DiversCity, a cross-firm organisation set up to encourage members of the LGBT+ community to apply to City law firms and to build confidence among these students. Each year we take part in an event to give students the chance to talk to representatives from some of the top firms about what it is like to be out in the City. We will also be participating in the Aspiring Solicitors’ Pride event this year and hosting our own insight day for aspiring LGBT+ lawyers.
LGBT+
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