Diverse Perspectives in the Making: Social Mobility Initiatives for Trainee Solicitors in the UK

Nov 30, 2023

Written By Nandini Jadeja

Diversity and social mobility are more than just recent ‘buzzwords’ in the legal landscape, they represent important issues that need to be addressed for the betterment of the legal community. The advantages of having diverse perspectives in the workplace have been shown time and time again, as they can contribute to a more innovative and inclusive legal landscape. In turn, this ensures that the legal profession reflects the diversity of society, in order to enhance the legal system’s effectiveness and fairness.

Understanding social mobility in the legal sector

Social mobility initiatives are various and far-reaching, spanning from work experience opportunities pre-university to mentorship at trainee solicitor stage. Some of the most common social mobility initiatives include:

Social mobility ambassador schemes
Mentorship schemes/opportunities
Work experience
Open days
Law fairs
Apprenticeships
Application support schemes

These schemes are more than just a means of addressing a diversity quota, they break down barriers to law and work towards creating legal opportunities for everyone.

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Identifying barriers in achieving social mobility

The most common barriers to access that aspiring solicitors from underrepresented backgrounds may face include: not obtaining high grades in GCSEs/A-levels due to extenuating circumstances, being unable to undertake work experience due to other responsibilities and the high cost of legal training.

Similarly, socioeconomic factors, such as access to a high-quality education and financial support also play an important role in entering the legal profession. For example, in a report published by the City of London’s Diversity Taskforce, 26% of senior employees had attended fee paying schools, three times the national average of 7.5%, while 37% of respondents from working class backgrounds felt that their background had held them back at work. The intersectionality of certain barriers (caring responsibilities and low income) also creates further challenges.

Addressing unconscious bias in legal graduate recruitment

One way of breaking down the barriers into law is addressing the unconscious bias (unconsciously discriminating against applicants based on personal characteristics) prevalent in both recruitment and promotion processes. Strategies to mitigate this include blind recruitment processes, having multiple people on an interview panel and providing information and training on unconscious bias to the recruitment panel.

Prominent social mobility initiatives in UK law firms

An initiative used by several law firms is ‘PRIME’, an allegiance of 61 law firms and in-house legal teams who are determined to improve access to the legal profession and promote socio-economic diversity across the UK. Since 2011, ‘PRIME’ has provided over 12,000 weeks of work experience for socially mobile students. Some of the firms involved include Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy, Freshfields and Baker McKenzie, and many of the students involved have gone on to have successful careers at these firms.

As well as PRIME and other similar schemes, many law firms will have diversity access schemes of their own, so it is worth looking through their websites to find information on this. These can range from mentorship opportunities to targeted work experience weeks.

Mentorship and the creation of support networks are effective ways of breaking down barriers into law, by contributing to the personal and professional development of trainee solicitors. Mentorship schemes create relationships that last beyond the application stage, and can help support individuals through every stage of a legal career.

The role of external organisations

PRIME is just one example of several external organisations that are improving social mobility in law. Others include, ‘Aspiring Solicitors’, ‘Bright Network’, ‘The Social Mobility Foundation’ and many more, all working to improve social mobility in the legal profession.

The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) also mandates that firms must “encourage equality, diversity and inclusion,” in Principle six of its principles that govern solicitor behaviour.

The impact of social mobility initiatives on the legal profession

As law firms take up the responsibility of improving social mobility in the legal profession, different metrics and indicators are being used to measure the success of these initiatives. These include measuring how many trainees in each intake attended state-school or are from non-professional backgrounds or counting such as the number of women who are made partners.

One improvement stemming from these initiatives has been that law firms look at applications more holistically, on a case-by-case basis. This is instead of rejecting applicants based on their failure to gain certain GCSE or A-level grades.

As the legal landscape becomes increasingly diverse, law firms have been able to address complex legal challenges and foster innovation, ultimately leading to a more efficient and inclusive profession for all.

Looking ahead: future directions in social mobility initiatives

It is important to note that many of these schemes are still in their infancy. Social mobility strategies are also evolving and adapting to changing societal and industry dynamics. To ensure that the legal profession is as diverse as possible, law firms, organisations and educational institutions must collaborate to enhance the availability and effectiveness of social mobility initiatives. ‘PRIME’ is just one example of how such collaboration can bring about positive outcomes for the students that it reaches.

To conclude, there is still a way to go before the legal sector is as representative as it can be. The schemes and initiatives discussed above highlight some of the ways that the legal profession is evolving to embrace diverse perspectives and to create a more inclusive profession. If you are a student that is not sure if law is an industry you can fit into, look into the initiatives mentioned above and connect with current legal professionals.

It is not just the job of large organisations to foster diversity and improve social mobility, however. These measures will only succeed if individuals such as yourself actively support and engage with them: everyone in the legal community plays a role in building a more inclusive and diverse future.

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