It's time for law firms to crank up their commitment to fair access, says Addleshaw Goddard's Monica Burch

The publication of Alan Milburn's latest 'Fair Access to Professional Careers: A Progress Report' in May confirms that the legal profession is making concerted efforts to address the issue of fair access and social mobility.

The report comments on the judiciary, the bar and private practice. It does not refer to in-house lawyers as a separate body in terms of efforts made in this area, although in fairness the report is dealing with entry level graduates.

The legal sector is at the forefront of driving activity aimed at improving access to the professions, which we as an industry should be proud of. However, the report also sounds a note of caution, so before we all congratulate ourselves, there is still much more to be done.

Within Addleshaw Goddard, and across the profession, there are initiatives that address social mobility issues – initiatives that improve young people's aspirations and skills, increase transparency in recruitment and provide more flexible entry routes into law.

This broad approach is vital to making a real and sustained impact. If we assume the responsibility for inspiring young people from less privileged backgrounds to want to work within the legal profession, we need to make sure the profession is effectively and practically open to them.

Why inclusion matters

The cynics out there might ask, why does it matter? That's particularly the case in current economic conditions. In an extremely competitive marketplace, where firms already receive many more applications for training contracts than we can accommodate, some might question why we should widen the talent pool further.

As a business leader, I want this firm to attract the best people – and the best people from the widest possible backgrounds. That mix can only make a business better, more agile, less conservative and the sum of diverse thought and energy. And I don't want to live or work in an environment where particular professions or roles are exclusive to one section of society – that's not justifiable or sustainable.

Social mobility is a real focus for this firm and we have combined an approach which raises aspiration and understanding of legal careers at school level, while at the same time amending our graduate recruitment process to ensure that talented individuals who come from less privileged or alternative backgrounds are able to successfully apply to our firm.

The innovative Legal Access Scheme identifies graduates whose academic record at school may not reflect their true intellect or potential, and fast-tracks them on to a summer placement scheme.

We recruit 40% of our trainees from our summer scheme and assess our vacation students while in role. Scheme candidates who do well are offered an assessment centre place, and successful candidates a training contract. To date, 13 participants have secured training contracts with us.

It is essential to improve transparency through setting targets and publishing data. We are one of a growing number of law firms to have implemented measures to collect socio-economic data – both from existing staff and potential recruits. All law firms will soon be required to do this after the Legal Services Board revealed its plans to introduce mandatory diversity monitoring for firms.

Views on the correct methodology for socio-economic data collection vary, but providing a transparent record of progress sets a real benchmark for improvement.

We know, for example, that the percentage of state school students who received an offer of a training contract or placement scheme from us has increased over the last year, and that it is more proportionate to the number of state school students who apply. The data also helps us to identify possible sticking points in the recruitment process that we need to investigate further.

Milburn is right that while we are heading in the correct direction, the legal profession is still not moving sufficiently quickly. His conclusions state that educational background is one of the biggest barriers to progression.

Now, more than ever, alternative routes into law are needed but if lawyers who trained through the CILEx route, for example, are struggling to secure a job or progress once they secure a position, there is a real need for change in perception, as well as policies and practices.

We need intelligent people in the law. There is an implicit view in some quarters that opening up routes to law dumbs down the quality of lawyer. That depends on whether you believe intelligence to be the preserve of the privileged few. I don't buy that.

Quality work experience

We can't be complacent. But we also need to recognise that real impact is sometimes difficult to measure and may not be seen for some time. Ultimately, ongoing commitment and analysis of each initiative is essential to ensure a real change is implemented.

PRIME is a great example of an initiative where law firms have worked together to create an industry standard around providing quality work experience for students from less privileged backgrounds. What has been notable, and refreshing, is the spirit of collaboration among law firms and the sharing of resources and ideas, which has no doubt contributed to its success to date.

Let's hope this collaborative approach continues and that this time next year, there has been further success as more and more law firms start to address fair access to improve social mobility with the legal profession.

Monica Burch is senior partner at Addleshaw Goddard.