The importance of increasing diversity in the legal profession

Over the last 40 years, there has been a proven increase in diversity within the legal profession. Research by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has shown an increase in women and BAME new admissions, but partnership is still dominated by white men.

The University of Nottingham Law Society believes that steps taken at the entry level to the profession are paramount to the effort to increase diversity and these are evident in our many initiatives developed over the years. This contributed to us winning the ‘Most Committed to Increasing Diversity’ award for the second year in a row at the LawCareers.Net Student Law Society Awards in March.

If you’re interested in taking steps to increase diversity in your university law society, or want to know of possible initiatives at your university that you can get involved in, take a look at some of the things we do at the University of Nottingham!

Diversity Series

The University of Nottingham Law Society hosts a successful Diversity Series of panel discussions with sponsor law firms covering a variety of topics. These include Women in Law, BAME, LGBTQI+ and social mobility. These panel discussions are great for students to be able to talk freely with representatives from law firms ranging from graduate recruitment to partner level. Students also have the opportunity to ask any questions they have about that relevant diversity area. Students have been able to connect with representatives on LinkedIn following the networking sessions, which has given them an invaluable opportunity to meet the firms and learn more about their diversity initiatives and culture, which aids them in their future applications. We have had numerous students approach us after the events and say how helpful and enjoyable these sessions have been!

Diversity Council

To ensure students can make the most of these panel discussions by asking the most relevant and important questions to our representatives, the society’s newly formed Diversity Council meets several times a term to formulate questions for each event. The Council is a collection of students selected by application process. The application sought to find the students who were most committed to promoting diversity and full of ideas as to how the society can improve its diversity initiatives.

Diversity Award

The most exciting development regarding diversity is the introduction of the Diversity Award. We introduced the award this year, which students can win and add to their CVs if they attend four of our Diversity Series events. The aim of this award was to increase attendance at our panel discussions, but also to encourage students to explore these various diversity areas and become more knowledgeable about them. This has proven to be a success and we have had a noticeable increase in attendance compared to previous years.

We wanted to provide a tangible incentive to earn the award other than the opportunity to add it to students’ CVs. Through the rapport we have built with Jag K (a former UoN Law alumni, former Aspiring Solicitors universities manager and future trainee at Macfarlanes), this year we were able to offer students a phone call with Macfarlanes’ graduate recruitment team for everyone who earned the award. At the prize-giving ceremony where certificates were presented to winners, Jag attended and gave tips to students as to how to make the most of this phone call opportunity. This has been a brilliant stepping stone for students’ applications and knowledge about the profession. The majority of these students felt that corporate law wasn’t accessible to them, but since attending our Diversity Series talks and getting these tips from Jag, they feel empowered to apply! We are hoping that the prize can progress next year to a fast-track assessment centre place at Macfarlanes which is an amazing opportunity for any student!

Tips for students

If you asked any of our committee members, our biggest tip for university would be to get involved in as many societies and events as you can! If you are interested in diversity talks like we offer in Nottingham, try and approach your law society to run one or maybe look into organising them yourself with a group of friends. These opportunities are so useful both for your personal interest and knowledge but for your future career prospects as well!

The University of Nottingham Law Society won the award for Most Committed to Increasing Diversity at the 2020 Student Law Society Awards