Fairness, inclusion and opportunity
Our ED&I approach shapes how we work with candidates, clients and each other. These principles guide our decisions, our conversations and the way we support people throughout the recruitment journey.
Principle 01
Equality of Opportunity
We are committed to ensuring that recruitment decisions are based on skills, experience, potential and suitability for the role.
We will actively seek to identify and reduce barriers that may prevent talented individuals from accessing legal career opportunities.
We will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, including:
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Age
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Disability
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Gender reassignment
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Marriage or civil partnership
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Pregnancy and maternity
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Race
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Religion or belief
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Sex
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Sexual orientation
We also recognise the importance of wider diversity, including socioeconomic background, caring responsibilities, neurodiversity, education, culture and life experience.
Principle 02
Inclusive Recruitment
Inclusive recruitment is central to what we do.
We will work with our clients to encourage fair and objective recruitment processes and challenge practices that could unnecessarily restrict access to roles.
Where appropriate, this includes:
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Using inclusive and accessible job descriptions.
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Focusing on genuine essential criteria rather than unnecessary requirements.
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Encouraging clients to consider transferable skills and potential.
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Supporting reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
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Promoting flexible and hybrid working where appropriate to the role.
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Using a broad range of candidate sourcing channels.
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Challenging unconscious bias in recruitment and selection.
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Providing candidates with clear information about recruitment processes and expectations.
Our responsibility
We recognise that recruitment agencies can inadvertently contribute to inequality if candidates are filtered out before reaching an employer. We therefore take seriously our responsibility to ensure that our own screening and candidate-selection practices are fair and inclusive.
The Law Society similarly identifies agency practices and candidate filtering as an important part of disability-inclusive recruitment.
Principle 03
Diversity in Legal Recruitment
We believe diversity should be considered throughout the legal career journey.
Our consultants will seek to understand candidates as individuals rather than making assumptions based on background, career history, age, gender, ethnicity, disability or any other characteristic.
We will encourage our clients to consider diverse shortlists where appropriate and will actively engage with candidates from a broad range of backgrounds.
We will also seek to highlight opportunities that may provide progression for individuals who have historically faced barriers within the legal profession.
This includes supporting greater access to opportunities for:
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Women progressing into senior legal positions.
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Minority ethnic legal professionals.
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LGBTQ+ professionals.
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Disabled and neurodivergent candidates.
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Candidates from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
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Candidates returning to the profession following career breaks.
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Professionals seeking flexible or alternative working arrangements.
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Individuals taking non-traditional routes into legal careers.
Principle 04
Disability & Neurodiversity Inclusion
We recognise that disability and neurodiversity can be invisible and that traditional recruitment processes can unintentionally create barriers.
We are committed to making our recruitment service as accessible as reasonably possible.
Candidates are encouraged to discuss reasonable adjustments with us at any stage of the recruitment process.
Depending on individual circumstances, adjustments may include:
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Alternative interview formats.
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Additional preparation time.
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Adjustments to interview questions or assessments.
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Flexible interview scheduling.
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Remote interviews.
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Additional communication or clarification around the recruitment process.
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Other reasonable adjustments identified by the candidate.
We will work collaboratively with candidates and clients to remove unnecessary barriers while maintaining the integrity of the recruitment process.
Principle 05
Fairness, Transparency & Accountability
We recognise that good intentions are not enough.
Our ED&I strategy therefore includes measurable actions and regular review.
We will monitor, where appropriate and lawful, our recruitment activity to identify potential disparities and areas for improvement.
This may include reviewing:
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Candidate attraction and engagement.
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Candidate progression through recruitment stages.
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Diversity of candidate pools.
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Placement outcomes.
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Candidate feedback.
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Client feedback.
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Accessibility of our recruitment processes.
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Representation within our own team.
Where data identifies potential barriers or disproportionality, we will consider appropriate action.
We will treat personal and diversity information confidentially and ensure that equality monitoring information is not used unfairly in recruitment decisions.