#7 The Legal Profession This Week - Gender Pay Gap Reports

Date
7 April 2021

Jacob Miller

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  • Feb 15, 2020
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    While we normally only have one substantive commercial discussion, I just wanted to add a few brief thoughts on this piece as I think it's so highly topical. I will caveat (quite heavily) here by saying that this is not so much based around commercial knowledge geared up for an interview, merely just a really interesting discussion point.

    CSR for major corporates, as we know it, is comparatively novel. We also find ourselves in an era where the discussion surrounding equality (or, perhaps more aptly, equity - although I won't get into substantive discussion here) is more in the public eye than it has ever been in the past. This has lead to a definite intertwining of CSR and D&I issues as the topics become harder and harder to separate from one another in any meaningful way.

    I find it very interesting that diversity and CSR within law firms themselves is now playing an increasing role in determining how, or even if, a corporate client will instruct a law firm; these factors are now being discussed in the same space as fee arrangements and added value for clients who seek legal advice. While I am of the opinion that (within reason) any catalyst for this sort of change is largely positive, I do wonder whether it could lead to the 'commoditising' of CSR/ D&I whereby change occurs for the wrong reasons and, as such, is only really superficial.

    I would be really interested to hear some more thoughts on this!
     

    Dheepa

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  • Jan 20, 2019
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    While we normally only have one substantive commercial discussion, I just wanted to add a few brief thoughts on this piece as I think it's so highly topical. I will caveat (quite heavily) here by saying that this is not so much based around commercial knowledge geared up for an interview, merely just a really interesting discussion point.

    CSR for major corporates, as we know it, is comparatively novel. We also find ourselves in an era where the discussion surrounding equality (or, perhaps more aptly, equity - although I won't get into substantive discussion here) is more in the public eye than it has ever been in the past. This has lead to a definite intertwining of CSR and D&I issues as the topics become harder and harder to separate from one another in any meaningful way.

    I find it very interesting that diversity and CSR within law firms themselves is now playing an increasing role in determining how, or even if, a corporate client will instruct a law firm; these factors are now being discussed in the same space as fee arrangements and added value for clients who seek legal advice. While I am of the opinion that (within reason) any catalyst for this sort of change is largely positive, I do wonder whether it could lead to the 'commoditising' of CSR/ D&I whereby change occurs for the wrong reasons and, as such, is only really superficial.

    I would be really interested to hear some more thoughts on this!

    Completely agree with your points here.

    While the comments made by Vodafone is the most recent example, BP made a very similar if not even bolder statement last year (behind a paywall unfortunately but the headline says it all). This is perhaps cynical of me, but I don't believe you can convince a business to take social issues seriously unless financial incentives are tied to it. So I'm all for clients making statements like this, because it will finally incentivise even the most non-diverse firms to pick up the pace with their diversity initiatives.

    However, I do share the same concerns you do Jacob. Real diversity takes years to build, especially if starting from scratch. So I'm curious to see how many law firms actually commit for the long term, beyond just establishing (sometimes very superficial) diversity networks and setting recruitment targets. I think the pay gap reporting, especially the mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting and the fantastic voluntary sexuality and disability reporting (hoping this becomes mandatory as well) is going to be great way to measure long term investment and will be quite telling in differentiating firms that are truly committed.
     

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