Welcoming the report, published last week, Lubna Shuja, president of the Law Society, said: ‘Where you start in life should not determine where you end up.’
The Taskforce has set out a five-point pathway to boost social mobility: assigning accountability to senior leaders; collecting data on employee backgrounds within the next two years; taking action to increase diversity at senior levels and monitoring what works; setting goals; and publishing data.
Shuja said: ‘The legal sector is leading on diversity data collection, including socio-economic background, as this is mandatory for law firms.
‘We know there is already great work underway to remove barriers to entry and progression for solicitors from non-professional backgrounds. Our focus will be on supporting firms to set their own goals for success and publishing their data in the coming years.’