By Anita Rice


FTSE-100 companies are to question top City law firms on the ethnic make-up of teams working on specific deals in an attempt to monitor how many black and minority ethnic (BME) lawyers get to work on the UK's biggest contracts, the Gazette can reveal.



Under the proposed scheme, initiated by the Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL), companies will be encouraged to request deal-specific diversity information from firms tendering for work.



The initiative is sponsored by BT and the Law Society. Chancery Lane will next month host a discussion with representatives from top businesses to discuss how best to take it forward. BT said it hopes to formally launch the project, called the Diversity Charter, in October.



BT general counsel Anne Fletcher told the Gazette: 'Diversity is key to our business and the introduction of the charter will raise awareness across the profession and ensure its place as a key factor in the procurement of external legal services.'



SAL chairman Sailesh Mehta said he developed the scheme 'having spent the best part of 20 years trying to persuade City solicitors that it is in their economic interest to have a diverse workforce. The next step was to speak to those who give them their £1 billion of work a year'.



Mr Mehta said monitoring how many BME employees get to work on top deals is essential because, 'if one looks closer at the teams who do the big deals or represent the more glamorous clients, they show a lack of diversity. There may be a good reason for it, but it is fair and right to enquire and to allow the firm to explain.



'If a supplier is producing troubling answers to the diversity questions, there will come a time when the FTSE-100 signatory to the Diversity Charter will ask difficult questions. It will be economically worthwhile for that firm to address the problem, with the assistance of the Law Society and the company.'



Law firms will not be compelled to complete diversity data to compete for business, nor will the companies involved be obliged to instruct firms which demonstrate the most diverse teams. However, SAL, BT and the Law Society hope the scheme will encourage those procuring and providing legal services to look at diversity more closely.



Anonymous copies of the forms will be sent to the Society, which will use the data collated to produce a yearly review of trends across top deals. It is not viewed as a 'name and shame' activity.



Law Society President Fiona Woolf said: 'This initiative puts diversity at the heart of business and could make a significant contribution to ensuring the profession reflects the diversity of its clients. The Law Society will support firms and in-house legal departments by developing practical tools to help them implement this initiative and derive the clear business benefits that arise from embracing diversity.'



Christine Moore, head of employment law at BT, said: 'We have worked closely with the Law Society and SAL in this initiative. BT has a diverse customer base and this needs to be reflected throughout our business, including legal suppliers. The charter will underline the fact that diversity is a central issue.'



l To learn more, email: zainab.kemsley@lawsociety.org.uk.

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