Richard Robinson argues that missing out on work experience placements is the first stumbling block for black students.

It's heart-breaking that it has taken the death of yet another Black man at the hands of the police to prompt governments, society and corporations to finally confront the issue of systemic racism.

But the global outpouring of sadness, rage and resolve triggered by George Floyd's death could be a moment for some much-needed soul searching here in the UK's business community. Some sectors are embracing change and facing up to their lack of diversity.

The legal industry, however, appears to be missing this opportunity to embrace the benefits that come with more diversity. Considering the global demand for English legal services, you might expect the industry would be awash with diverse talent – but sadly that is not the case.

Only six of the 800 London-based partners of the Magic Circle of law firms are Black. The number of Black QC's still lags far behind the proportion of the population from the Black community. And the situation is similarly dire for women – who are still routinely underrepresented in the profession.

I am a Black British man from a working-class Birmingham family. I spent more than six years working as a lawyer for both a Magic Circle and a US law firm, but left the profession to start Robin AI, a technology company using artificial intelligence to automate low complexity legal work. With first-hand experience of both law and tech, I've seen how both industries are trying to answer the difficult questions posed by the recent Black Lives Matters protests.

To its credit, the technology community appears to be in a moment of meaningful introspection. Concerns that facial recognition technology will be used as a tool for widespread racial profiling have finally been heard – and prominent firms like IBM, Amazon and Microsoft have committed to withdraw their products. Andreessen Horrowitz and Softbank, venture capital funds in the US, have pledged to do more to support black entrepreneurs.

And a number of technology companies have used their platforms to listen thoughtfully to Black voices. These initiatives may not ultimately deliver real or meaningful change, but there are grounds for optimism.

In the law, the principal issue is not overt racism, but structural barriers that we've been too slow to dismantle. It's these barriers that dissuade aspiring Black lawyers from entering the profession and hold back those that do.

One of the reasons I started Robin AI was to try to help restore the faith and trust people once had in our lawyers and our legal services. Where once lawyers were considered honest and trustworthy, they are now often perceived as deceitful and avaricious. And part of the reason for our declining image in the eyes of the public is the industry's chronic lack of diversity.

When I reflect on my own journey into law, I see three major barriers holding the profession back from finding and nurturing talented black lawyers.

First, employers insist that aspiring lawyers must have law firm work experience before they'll be considered for the most prestigious jobs. But the truth that every lawyer knows is that many legal internships aren't advertised, and instead are awarded to the children of partners, barristers and clients behind closed doors.

Because the decision makers in the legal industry are mostly drawn from wealthy families and elite schools – whose members are overwhelmingly white – we know that Black students are the least likely to get legal work experience, so they fall at the very first hurdle. If we want a diverse profession, we have to end these conditions and start judging applicants on their promise and talent.

Second, we need to significantly reduce the financial barriers to joining the profession. According to the Law Society, leaving aside the spiralling cost of University, becoming a lawyer comes with a £25,000 price tag. On top of that, ethnic minority applicants from outside London in search of an internship or work experience with a law firm are all too often put off by the financial barriers to entry.

If you're Black in the UK, you're significantly more likely to come from a low-income household, so a four-week internship at nominal pay in one of the world's most expensive cities often isn't an option. To help identify the most promising future leaders of our industry, we need to make a commitment that there should be no financial barriers – and there are plenty of organisations in the industry with the financial muscle to make this happen.

Finally, the entire profession needs to encourage more Black lawyers to positions of leadership and esteem. When young Black lawyers do secure those rare and coveted jobs, they often report that they felt unwelcome, as if they didn't belong. That's because the managers and the leaders within the industry have similar backgrounds, similar stories and very few of them are Black.

There are countless talented Black lawyers who have been overlooked for training, investment and promotion. Now is the time to find those people and nurture them.

If we want English law to continue to market it itself to the global business community then we need to get serious about diversity. If the next generation of lawyers look the same as the last, the industry's reputation could be irreparably damaged in the eyes of people around the world who are committing right now to change.

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