The Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) is to lobby the FTSE 100 to sign up to a diversity charter that will require law firms to provide information on the ethnic background of staff.

SAL chairman Sailesh Mehta said he had already begun discussions with the Law Society and Bar Council, which were 'broadly supportive' of the idea, and that he expected to set up meetings with FTSE 100 companies in 'the next few months'.


Mr Mehta said he hoped that the companies would insist on law firms signing up to the charter as a pre-requisite for instructing them. The charter would require them to give details on the ethnic breakdown of their lawyers at all levels, and on the teams of lawyers that they would be fielding for the client.


It would also involve a 'rolling audit' every 18 months, with the SAL offering support to firms experiencing difficulties.


Mr Mehta said: 'Five years ago, I would have been very pessimistic that this could be done. But the culture of clients has changed.'