Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Shearman & Sterling are ramping up their diversity efforts by signing up to work with an agency that specialises in African Caribbean graduates.

The firms have joined the client list of Rare Recruitment, which specialises in providing high-achieving African Caribbean graduates, as well as other ethnic minorities.

The duo join a client list that includes law firms such as Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance (CC), Herbert Smith, Travers Smith, Slaughter and May and Hogan Lovells, as well as banks and corporates including Lloyds, UBS, Barclays, Bank of England, Transport for London, L'Oreal and Rothschild.

Clients of the diversity recruitment agency pay a set, confidential fee annually to be introduced to ethnic minority candidates.

Freshfields graduate recruitment partner Simon Johnson (pictured) said: "Freshfields is committed to focusing on diversity initiatives. By working in partnership with Rare, we hope to be introduced to more exceptional individuals from non-privileged backgrounds that are underrepresented in existing talent pools.

"The firm has been placing even more focus on diversity from a recruitment perspective recently, and is dedicated to maintaining this."

Rare legal recruitment director Lianne Moseley commented: "I am immensely proud of the strength of our client list. The fact that firms of the calibre of Freshfields and Shearman are working with us is a sign that our approach of sourcing and developing the best talent from diverse backgrounds works."

The agency has helped 15 candidates with black and ethnic minority backgrounds secure training contracts with CC since it started working with the firm in 2011, according to the company. It has also helped 40 participants secure 50 vacation schemes with leading firms over the past two years.

A&O started working with the company last September, after CC signed up in May of the same year. Slaughter and May became Rare's first law firm client in 2006.