Magic Circle law firms join together for collective action on lack of racial diversity

• Aparna Sreevalsan
• 4 January, 2022

By: Aparna Sreevalsan

BRITAIN’S top law firms have tied hands to boost the number of ethnic lawyers in the profession.

Legal CORE (Collaboration on Race and Ethnicity) was launched on October 27. Legal CORE is the first leadership-led cross-firm initiative aimed at tackling the underrepresentation of BAME groups in the UK’s legal industry.

The eight-founding firms known in the industry as the Magic Circle (Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, Slaughter & May), and Herbert Smith Freehills, Macfarlanes, and Norton Rose Fulbright have all come together with a plan to increase diversity in the legal profession.

Diversity & Inclusion leads from each firm will lead the plans and strategies of Legal CORE, while a separate team of leadership will facilitate in making effective changes within their respective firms.

Law Society, the governing body for the profession, says research shows that the representation of BAME groups is low across the top50 law firms.

Aldo, further research held by the Law Society and Ethnic Minority Lawyers Division found that the workplace wellbeing of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority solicitors is reported lower to that of their white counterparts.

“We know, there needs to be a deeper focus on Black representation and an improvement across other ethnicities at law firms. When we came together as a group last year, we were all in agreement that by acting unilaterally, firms can make progress, but ultimately, we all have similar challenges, so a sector-wide approach will have a more sustainable impact” said Paul Stacey, Executive Partner at Slaughter and May and Co-Chair of Legal CORE.

Legal CORE’s mission is to increase the representation of BAME in private practise and the parents firms are inviting other firms to join hands in this initiative.

In the following months, Legal CORE will be commencing certain actions:

• Piloting a Leadership Forum for senior leaders across the founding firms to facilitate conversations on championing race diversity and explore how to effect change within their firm.
• Hosting a cross-firm ‘hackathon’, inviting participants from across the legal industry to come together and crowdsource ideas on how to improve retention and progression for Black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals
• Introducing a Best Practice Forum to share collective success and challenges on themes such as data analytics, reverse mentoring and retaining Black talent.

“There is a lack of representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals in the UK legal sector and whilst we’re each taking action individually as firms, creating a forum for firms to openly share and discuss solutions, and working together will help to realise our common goal faster”, said Daniel Danso, Global Diversity, and Inclusion Leader at Linklaters.