Large law firms are under pressure from both new legislation and from enlightened clients to demonstrate employment policies that promote diversity.

Chris Baker reports

The higher echelons of the largest law firms in England and Wales have always been dominated by white middle-class males.

Those in senior roles were hired by similar types a few decades before but the days are long gone when such recruitment practices were considered acceptable.

There is growing concern that talented minorities are being overlooked.

But moves are afoot to reflect the diverse nature of the UK population and - though conservative with a small c - the legal profession has started to address the thorny issue of diversity.

Overall, there is a correlation between the proportion of ethnic minority lawyers in the profession (around 7% of practising solicitors) and in the wider population - with far more training to get in - but this is not necessarily reflected in the largest firms.

There are several drivers to correct this, but not all of it is entirely voluntary.

A cynic might point to imperatives both in the law and elsewhere in the profession for such moves by firms.

Next month, the 2003 Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations and Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations come into force.

A recent straw poll by the Gazette found 60% of the large firms questioned said they had taken sufficient steps to ensure their equality or diversity policies complied with these laws (see [2003] Gazette, 11 September, 1).

For example, Clifford Chance has a non-denominational prayer and contemplation room in its shiny new Canary Wharf offices, and law firms such as Eversheds, East Anglian firm Mills & Reeve and Beachcroft Wansbroughs are looking into their catering arrangements to ensure the needs of different religions are met.

There are other pressures.

Speaking at September's Law Society annual conference, Lord Ouseley, former chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, said law firms seeking public sector contracts should have to prove that they operate and recruit staff in accordance with diversity and equality policies.

And at last month's Minority Lawyers Conference, delegates heard of a scheme in the US involving in-house counsel at 350 companies - including the likes of Starbucks, Reebok and Shell - who are demanding that their external advisers put ethnic minority lawyers in senior positions (see [2003] Gazette, 23 October, 4).

City firm Herbert Smith is one practice that is recognising the new reality.

It has recently embarked on an overhaul of its diversity and equality policy in a bid to achieve more diverse staffing levels (see [2003] Gazette, 16 October, 6).

Executive partner Iain Rothnie is heading a seven-strong team to examine what can be done to attract more women, ethnic minority people, homosexuals, older lawyers and those with minority religious beliefs into the Herbert Smith fold.

'We have what I would call a standard human resources policy,' Mr Rothnie says.

'We are currently developing a diversity policy.

For the last nine months we have had a diversity working group doing this and addressing a number of other diversity related issues.'

But he acknowledges the work to be at an early stage for Herbert Smith, as well as many other firms.

'More still needs to be done on other policies before they have the substance required to bring about the changes, we want,' he admits.

'We know we have to take this seriously, so we are working on it.

'We are committed to having something with real substance over a period of time.

It also involves social and cultural changes which will of course take time.'

Makbool Javaid, head of equality and diversity at City firm DLA and former chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers, agrees that more needs to be done.

'Law firms are behind the corporate world when it comes to diversity,' he says.

'If you look at investment banks and other institutions in the City, they have dedicated individuals or teams looking at diversity issues.'

Policies allowing Orthodox Jews to go home early on Fridays, or halal catering for Muslims, are standard practice among the major clients of the bigger firms, he says.

While this push for diversity may seek to bring equality to every aspect of an institution's work, it is essentially profit driven, Mr Javaid adds.

'Addressing diversity gives a competitive edge,' he says.

'Law firms have not taken that on and do not appreciate the advantages of that - most lag behind their corporate clients.'

Big firms, such as Herbert Smith and DLA, claim they have adopted a more US-style meritocratic approach.

Individuals who have the talent to succeed will do so regardless of background, beliefs, sexuality or disability, they say.

'We don't have a rigid, hierarchical structure.

It's a more flexible environment than perhaps in some other firms where there is a more traditional career path,' says Mr Javaid.

'It's a more entrepreneurial business environment where people who are good and who are willing will get recognised and promoted.'

But he adds that any law firm must have policies in place to protect everybody, and not just the high-flyers.

'The business model should be flexible enough to ensure no particular group is disadvantaged,' he says.

Mr Rothnie says it is not enough for firms to have documents stating that they will promote equality.

'Policies are only the starting point, the written intent of the firm to address the issues seriously,' he says.

'The real issue is the impact they make, the changes they effect.'

Under the scheme now operating in the US, general counsel force their law firms to reveal the amount of legal work related to their company which is being performed by lawyers who have identified themselves as from a minority ethnic group, women, disabled or homosexual.

The law firm is then asked to provide details of partners and associates from these groups and told to use them in supervisory roles in relation to the company's work.

General counsel will track the progress of lawyers from these groups year on year (see [2003] Gazette, 23 October, 4).

American Bar Association (ABA) president Dennis Archer points out that while 25% of the US population is made up from minorities, they account for only 10% of its legal profession.

'Our corporations have diversified their workforces to reflect the faces of their consumers both domestically and abroad,' he says.

'For the past 20 years, corporate leaders with foresight have sought to diversify their professional resources as well as the human resources on their production lines.

'The ABA, like many other institutions in this country, has come late to the realisation that diversity brings inherent rewards.

We are working to make sure that the legal profession not only accepts and values those rewards, but uses the lessons of diversity as we strive to meet our responsibilities to the law, to the constitution and to the people who look to us to lead.'

After hearing Mr Archer explain the scheme at the conference, Yvonne Brown, chairwoman of the Black Solicitors Network, was among many to see its potential benefit for the UK.

'There is no reason why it shouldn't be applicable here,' she said.

'Law firms get concerned by the idea of positive discrimination, but this is more a case of positive action.

It's a good way of making sure they are not overlooking talent.'

Many lawyers maintain that it is only a matter of time before the initiative makes its way across the pond.

'What starts in America finds its way over the Atlantic in due course, albeit in modified form,' says Mr Rothnie.

'It's not something I've been particularly conscious of over here but it is something that we will have to consider.'

Oil giant BP recently held a 'race summit' in the US to examine diversity issues facing the company.

A BP spokesman says the company looks for any other company that it has a contract with to have similar views on equality and diversity to its own.

But he acknowledged that he was not sure what the present situation was for law firms to which BP outsources work.

Lara Oyesanya is head of legal services at the RAC and professional standards director of the Law Society's Commerce & Industry Group.

She sees the US general counsel scheme as an important signal to the UK.

Some 25% of law graduates in England and Wales are from ethnic minorities, she points out, adding: 'By the time they have qualified, there will be a pool of talent and it is going to be increasingly difficult to justify why such people are not well embedded in the profession.'

It can also be seen as a market forces issue.

'I don't think it's alien that an organisation, probably through the general counsel, insists that external lawyers that provide advice on the supply of goods to consumers reflect in their teams a cross-section of the consumers that provide the funds used to pay the lawyers,' Ms Oyesanya says.

Corporations could also use their diversity policies as leverage - if they think equality is important, so should everyone who works for them.

'You should be able to show you share the client's values,' says Mr Javaid.

'If you do, that will give you an edge over someone who is also tendering for the work.

It's not happening yet but it will happen and some law firms need to be alive to that.'

Diversity is not just about giving jobs to people from minorities, or the disabled.

Diversity and equality policies are also a good way of recruiting talent.

'It's all part of modernising the profession and having an environ-ment where the best people deliver high standards,' says Mr Javaid.

'The best people might not be in the same image as the people in positions of power in the law firm who were recruited 20 years ago when there was a bias towards Oxbridge.

'They might have been the right people for the time but they're not necessarily the right people now.'

Ms Oyesanya adds: 'Quite a few law firms have had the wake-up call that they may be missing out on a great opportunity.

There is a pool of talent that hasn't got family connections or been to Oxbridge.

'The time is going to come when corporate clients are going to say "We serve a community that is diverse - how can you work for us when all your lawyers are white?".'

Law Society statistics confirm that ethnic minority solicitors in private practice are mainly concentrated in small, high street firms.

Just under 24% are partners, compared to 43% of white Europeans.

The larger firms are coming around to their responsibility to recruit lawyers from all sectors of society, but a little bit of corporate pressure may force them to up their game - and most agree that is a welcome development.

Chris Baker is a freelance journalist