Finalists: Addleshaw Goddard; Berwin Leighton Paisner; Hogan Lovells; Mayer Brown (highly commended); Obelisk Support; Stephenson Harwood; The InterLaw Diversity Forum

Pinsent Masons earned the Diversity Innovation award for taking an original approach to improving workplace gender balance by partnering with schools to mentor girls and raise their aspirations.

Instead of adopting traditional methods to tackle gender imbalance such as formal quotas, Pinsent Masons is addressing the issue by focusing on education outcomes in economically deprived areas.

The firm's long-term secondary school partner, Cockburn School in Leeds, said female students' GCSE results were typically below expectations because they often lacked confidence in class or came from families where the female adult was either not in work or in low-paid employment, limiting career aspirations.

After a two-year mentoring programme in association with Ahead Partnership, 58% of girls improved their attitude towards learning and 60% improved their attendance. As a result of that success, Pinsent Masons now has mentoring programmes established at schools in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

Mentor sessions help students with time management, revision tips and career guidance. One volunteer mentor at Cockburn said: "I feel I genuinely made a difference, benefited my mentee and raised her aspirations, which was very rewarding for me. It also helped me develop my mentoring skills, which is useful and directly transferrable for my role in the office."

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