Top firms encourage women on extended career breaks back into practice

International firms Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Hogan Lovells are moving to encourage more experienced women lawyers who are on extended career breaks to return to practice.

Women lawyers who take extended career breaks for various reasons, including starting a family, as well as those who never return to practice, have been described as an “untapped” pool of legal talent. HSF is encouraging more women to return to practice after career breaks of three years or more by offering paid one-year fellowships at its UK and Australian offices. As the Law Society Gazette reports, the fellowship programme was originally piloted by four firms in the United States, one of which was Hogan Lovells, which has also announced that it will expand its fellowship programme to include its UK operations.

Ruth Grant, partner and chair of Hogan Lovells' diversity and inclusion committee, said: “As a global law firm, we are committed to empowering girls and women, and to the advancement and retention of women at all stages in their careers. We strive to maintain a diverse and inclusive working environment as diversity creates better teams, and better teams mean better solutions for our clients.”