After more than six years of covering the U.K. legal industry and witnessing diversity rise up law firm agendas,  I tend to view any newly rolled out measures with a healthy dose of scepticism. No matter what firms say, the stats and first person experiences remain depressing.

This week's announcement that eight top U.K. outfits, including Allen & Overy, Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith Freehills, have joined together to form a new working group to tackle the underrepresentation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in the U.K. legal industry, was no different. 

The group, operating under the banner of Legal CORE (Collaboration on Race and Ethnicity), will pilot a leadership forum made up of its senior partner members, which will meet every few months and provide a dedicated space for leaders to discuss how to tackle the issue.