A solicitor who is seeking to set up a directory of black lawyers received firm backing from leading black lawyers this week.
Solicitor and management consultant Debo Nwauzu plans to compile a directory of solicitors, barristers, in-house lawyers, legal executives and licensed conveyancers from a black ethnic background to help them refer work to one another.
Ms Nwauzu said she will seek funding from professional bodies and law firms to finance the project, which she aims to have in place by next summer. The directory may initially appear on-line and is likely to be based in the first instance on the membership lists of organisations for black legal professionals.
Ms Nwauzu said: 'The directory will be very useful for work referrals and networking. It will also help improve diversity in law firms. For bigger firms that do not have any lawyers in the directory [because they have no black lawyers], it will focus the mind.'
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| Brown: lending support |
'The directory would be useful for black businesses, which can prefer to deal with black lawyers who understand the problems they face in getting access to funding. It would improve access to justice by giving clients a more informed selection of who they want to deal with a matter.'
She added: 'This is something that professional bodies such as the Law Society should be funding, as part of its support for marginalised groups.'
Yvonne Brown, chairwoman of the Black Solicitors Network, also lent her support. She said: 'A directory of black lawyers will assist firms in their quest for diversity, as they could target their recruitment at the ethnic minority lawyers listed there.
'There are also cases where an ethnic minority lawyer may add a particular perspective that would be beneficial to the client, for example in sensitive race cases.'
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