Take diversity seriously, CRE chair warns law firms

CRE chair Trevor Phillips has called on law firms to stop treating diversity as a 'tick-box' exercise, and to wake up to the benefits of ethnic monitoring.

Speaking at the launch of the Institute of Paralegals Awards 2006 at the House of Commons, Trevor Phillips said: "People struggling to improve ethnic minority representation in the upper echelons of their organisations often tell me that there just aren't enough ethnic minorities to draw on in the lower ranks. When it comes to the legal profession, however, this just doesn't hold water. The Black Solicitors Network recently claimed that paralegals are - anecdotally - a more diverse bunch than solicitors (at present, just under eight per cent of practising solicitors are from an ethnic minority background). So, if more is done to nurture this existing pool of talent, we could have a quick win on our hands."

Referring to the fact that only half of the Legal 500's ten biggest law firms had actually published data relating to the ethnicity of their staff online, Trevor Phillips added: "Ethnic monitoring is key to breaking down the barriers that prevent ethnic minorities from entering the legal profession. It is also essential practice if law firms and chambers want to keep the custom of public authorities and big business like Barclays."

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