Barack Obama’s election marks a turning point far beyond America’s shores. It is not proof that the problems of equality and diversity are behind us, but it provides an impetus for us all to make renewed efforts for lasting change.

Building a true culture of equality takes hard work. Our branch of the profession can congratulate itself on the overall diversity of new entrants. A majority of our new colleagues are women, and ethnic minorities are over-represented compared with the wider population. These are important steps in achieving a profession that reflects and faithfully serves our country’s population.

But how are women and ethnic minority solicitors progressing through the profession? And how are the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) working to support the development of that culture of equality? The Society is the approved regulator of solicitors under the Legal Services Act. We are accountable for the efficacy and fairness of the regulation of solicitors and we established the operationally autonomous SRA. Successful regulatory systems enjoy the confidence of the regulated. We must be honest and admit that ethnic minority solicitors’ confidence in the SRA and the Law Society has taken a serious knock this year.

Lord Ouseley’s report on the impact of the SRA’s work on ethnic minority solicitors found ‘disproportionate’ levels of investigation but no unjust outcomes in any of the 187 cases examined. The SRA’s strategy to meet the report’s concerns is out for consultation.

Valuable feedback has been received from, among others, the Black Solicitors Network, the Society of Asian Lawyers, the Association of Muslim Lawyers and the British Nigeria Law Forum. The Society is working with the SRA to ensure it has the resources to deliver measurable outcomes and concrete changes, commanding the confidence of all solicitors.

Both the Law Society and SRA are publicly committed to tackling inequality. This starts with the SRA’s regulatory responsibilities and applies to the Society as an employer. The Law Society also provides leadership and support to the profession as legal practices seek to recruit and retain the best talent regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, age or religion.

Our President Paul Marsh has made diversity a key theme of his year in office. We personally support him in making the moral case for equality. There is also a clear business case. Employers would be mad to deny themselves the best talent and a workforce that reflects and understands the market which it seeks to serve.

The Society has appointed a diversity champion to drive our work on equality at a senior level, ensuring that everything we do promotes equality and diversity within the Society so that we can lead by example.

We are seeking a sustained, open and honest dialogue with minority groups and the wider profession. In June, we established a Black and Minority Ethnic Forum to act as a sounding board, providing ideas for further work and informing the decisions of the Society.

The forum unites leaders of all black and minority ethnic (BME) representative groups. We are working closely with other representative groups to make sure we also understand the needs of women in the profession, those with different religious backgrounds, those with disabilities, and lesbian, gay and bisexual colleagues. The support they need from the Society will be different, but the commitment from us remains constant.

The Society’s Salary Survey found troubling pay disparities between male and female solicitors and BME and white solicitors. We’re working with the Association of Women Solicitors and BME forum to examine the causes and identify the solutions to this challenge for the whole profession.

The Society wants to help individual solicitors meet their career ambitions and their employers to build strong, diverse teams, so we provide support and assistance through management and practice toolkits. And we are celebrating achievement. We should all take pride in the standard of entries for the equality and diversity category of the Society’s Excellence Awards.

This is not political correctness. The diversity of our profession is a huge strength that we all must foster. Progress within the profession must be based on abilities and talent, not connections, skin colour or a willingness to work 100 hours a week. The Law Society is committed to supporting each and every member solicitor. Work with us so that we can really start to deliver on that commitment.

Nwabueze Nwokolo is a Law Society Council member and chair of the Society’s equality and diversity committee.

Des Hudson is chief executive of the Law Society