Sherwood Report on Gender Balance in Law Firms – Could Try Harder!

Imagine it’s coming up to the end of the Easter term at school. Report time for law firms! Some A’s, a few B’s, but on Diversity and Inclusion, I’m afraid it’s a ‘Could Try Harder!’

My Sherwood partner Ann Collier carried out research amongst 28 law firms to find out what’s best practice in terms of retaining top female talent. There are some good things happening, but there is evidence that progress has rather plateaued. What do firms need to do differently to move to the next level?

Some notable findings and thoughts from Ann are as follows:

1. Most firms regard keeping top female talent as strategically important to their business and yet there are still pockets of Partners who do not fully embrace the concept and objectives. Is this being given top priority by the management of your firm?
2. In many firms the approach to improving gender diversity is