InterLaw Diversity Forum for LGBT Networks
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More liked postsImmigration Equality Panel Event: Thursday, 16 February (Family Migration, Asylum and Same-Sex Couples in the U.S. and U.K)
Immigration Equality Panel Event: Thursday, 16 February (Family Migration, Asylum and Same-Sex Couples in the U.S. and U.K)
Join us for an interesting panel discussion about numerous legal, social and cultural questions affecting LGBT immigrants in the U.S. and the U.K. In the U.S., non-citizens lack the ability to become permanent residents or citizens through their marriages and partnerships with U.S. citizens. In the U.K., such individuals can remain in the country through the permanent partnership laws.
When relationship-recognition laws fall short, what alternatives are there under human rights laws and/or asylum laws? This panel will have several excellent speakers who are leaders in this field, including:
Andrew Sullivan: Renowned blogger, Sunday Times columnist, political commentator, and the author of five books.
Helena Wray: Senior Lecturer at Law Middlesex University, Co-Editor Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law and academic expert on the law of family migration.
Joseph Landau: Board Chairman, Immigration Equality (U.S.) and Associate Professor, Fordham Law School
Our venue will be confirmed shortly, but in the meantime RSVP here with “Immigration Equality Panel Event, 16 February” in the subject line.
January Monthly Meeting (18 January, Paul Hastings, 6:30 pm)
Launch of Career Progression Survey 2012 by the InterLaw Diversity Forum, the Law Society and the Bar Council
Following our groundbreaking survey The Career Experience of LGB Solictors conducted with the Law Society and the Bar Council and published in 2010, we are now looking to launch a more ambitious and far-reaching project that will survey the career experiences of all lawyers and others working in the legal sector. Our aim is to uncover diverging career experiences of all kinds of people from all backgrounds in every kind of legal practice. The objective is to understand what drives or hinders career progression in the legal sector for men and women, gay and straight, black and white, religious and non-believer. This will inform our work to support a diverse and inclusive workforce across the legal sector where every individual has a fair opportunity to develop a rewarding career.
We hope to repeat the survey regularly so that we can see how the picture changes over time and which initiatives and projects are making a positive difference. Please help us to promote this year’s survey, which will again be conducted in collaboration with the Law Society and Bar Council.
Please participate by completing the survey here and encouraging all of your colleagues to participate. We are also reaching out to senior management and HR professionals to send this link out across their organisations.
Launch of Transgender Initiative Page
Please join us in celebrating the launch of our Transgender Initiative page on our website. This page contains resources to assist employers in becoming more inclusive of trans people, including links to charities such as the Gender Trust and Press for Change, as well as a link to the ground breaking resource created by Galop called ‘Shining the Light: 10 Keys to Becoming a Trans Positive Organisation.’
We have also included a write up on our transgender panel event co-hosted with Lloyds TSB on 1 November 2011 by our InterLaw Diversity Committee members Lucy Annison and Kerrin Roberts.
Please let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions for future events and join us in celebrating a next step for LGBT equality for the InterLaw Diversity Forum!
Member’s Survey 2011!
As we move forward towards our fourth anniversary we thought it would be a good time to reflect on our work over the last year and look forward to our next. As a member or supporter of the InterLaw Diversity Forum your views are very important to us, so we have devised a survey to find out more about you and your thoughts on us. None of the questions are mandatory and all answers are anonymous.
Please take a few minutes and complete the survey here. Any and all feedback, comments and suggestions would be gratefully received.
Tenth Annual Stonewall Lecture (Monday 14th November, 6:00pm, The Law Society)
You are invited to attend the tenth annual Stonewall Lecture Sexual orientation and the Equality Act 2010: What next? Organised by the Law Society and the Bar Council in association with the InterLaw Diversity Forum, the Bar Lesbian and Gay Group, and Stonewall. It will take place on Monday 14 November at 6:00pm in the Common Room of the Law Society at 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL. The lecture will be delivered by Dame Janet Gaymer DBE QC (Hon.), Employment Lawyer; member of the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and Co Chair of the Consultation Steering Panel for the Legal Education and Training Review in England and Wales (Review 2020). The lecture will be chaired by The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Etherton and the vote of thanks will be proposed by Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of Stonewall. The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Reading Room of the Law Society. To RSVP please click here.
Different Shades of the Same Rainbow: A BAME and LGBT Event from the InterLaw Diversity Forum, the Bar and the Law Society on Wednesday, 23rd November
Wednesday, 23rd November, 6.00 pm, Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL
The InterLaw Diversiry Forum, the Law Society and the Bar want to explore experience of black, asian and minority ethnic (“BAME”) members of the legal sector and see how this experience is impacted when those members are also part of the LGBT community.
Hear from Dr Rob Berkeley of Runnymede Trust and Ms Laura Swiszczowski of Race for Opportunity as they speak about some of the barriers BAME & LGBT professionals face particularly in the legal workplace and how to overcome them in order to succeed and still stay connected to our various communities. Hear also from senior lawyers who speak from the heart on the challenges of being LGBT and BAME in modern day Britain.
This event will be followed by networking drinks in a safe and engaging environment.
6 pm registration for a 6:30 pm start.
If you are interested in attending please contact Sophia Nadur on s_nadur@yahoo.com or Daniel Winterfeldt on daniel.winterfeldt@cms-cmck.com.
Sponsorship Event with the InterLaw Diversity Forum, GWN and Interbank (Wednesday 30th November, 6.00pm, Morgan Stanley)
This panel event will cover the theme of ‘Sponsorship’ and will be followed by networking drinks hosted by Morgan Stanley. A sponsor is someone who looks out for you in your organization, who puts your name forward for key assignments, recommends you for promotions and helps raise your profile. They open doors for you. They are in senior positions and are able to make this happen. They will also advise, counsel and guide. For years it has been the privileged few who have had sponsors. However, increasingly organizations are actively supporting senior members of staff to become sponsors. We will hear from some who have sponsored people in their organizations and from others who have benefited from sponsorship. This event will include various speakers and panels sourced by the InterLaw Diversity Forum, GWN and Interbank from across the City, helping you take your career to the next level. Our speakers will include:
- Martine Bond - MD & COO of FX and Emerging Markets at Morgan Stanley
- Michelle Fullerton - Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Europe and Emerging Markets at Bank America Merrill Lynch
- Julia Possener - Organisational Consultant formerly Legal & Governance Director, International at RSA Insurance Group plc
- Lale Topcuoglu - MD, Global Investment Grade Credit Portfolio Management at Goldman Sachs
Please RSVP here and you will receive a confirmation prior to the event with full details.
Congratulations to our founder and co-chair Daniel Winterfeldt for making the Independent on Sunday’s Pink List of the 101 most influential LGBT people for 2011! See the full list and coverage in the Independent here.
Transgender Community in the Workplace Seminar (Tuesday, 1st November, 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm, Lloyds TSB)
Lloyds Banking Group and the Interlaw Diversity Forum are pleased to invite you to our Transgender Community In The Workplace seminar hosted by Lloyds TSB at , 25 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7HN.
Whilst many organisations now have open and effective networks to support LGBT staff, the T population is small and fragmented, with very different needs / requirements from HR, LGB staff and within their own community. This seminar is aimed at HR professionals, employee network group representatives and members of the T community, and will feature speakers from the Gender Trust, one of the UK’s leading organisations working in this field, Lloyds Banking Group’s Diversity & Inclusion team and transgender(ed) individuals. We will be covering issues around the current legal framework for transgender(ed) individuals, how this translates into a work concept, and how companies can best support transgender(ed) individuals and maintain employee engagement.
As far as we’re aware this is one of the first events to be run in this space and we’re really excited about the contribution we hope it will make. We look forward to welcoming you on 1st November. The event will begin at 1600. At present we have not fully decided on a venue as we are waiting to ascertain the level of interest, but it will be in central London.
To RSVP please email patrick.osborne@lloydsbanking.com, listing who will be attending from your organisation in order of preference as we may need to restrict attendance to ensure as many organisations as possible can participate. Please make this invitation available to relevant LGBT network, HR and management contacts as relevant in your organisation.
Feminist Judgments: how women can, and do, shape the law
The InterLaw Diversity Forum Women’s Initiative hosted an evening exploring Feminist Judgments: how women can, and do, shape the law. The evening was hosted by Norton Rose LLP at their offices at 3 More London Riverside.
We were honoured to have Baroness Hale of Richmond (the only female member of the UK Supreme Court) speak about the importance of women’s perspectives for the law and how women can contribute to different legal decisions. Following Baroness Hale’s introduction, we are delighted to look into three fascinating decisions of the English courts which provoke discussion about what a ‘feminist’ judgment in these cases might have looked like.
The ‘Feminist Judgments’ project undertaken by Professor Rosemary Hunter of the University of Kent and Professor Clare McGlynn and Dr Erika Rackley of the University of Durham is an imaginative collaboration which has sought to write alternative feminist judgments to significant legal cases. Rather than producing academic critiques, our speakers have engaged in a practical exercise of writing alternative judgments to well known legal cases. The project aimed to consider how decisions might have been reached from a feminist perspective.
During the evening we considered the following cases:
Royal Bank of Scotland Plc v Etridge (No 2)
[2001] UKHL 44 - Presentation by Professor Rosemary Auchmuty (University of Reading)
Wilkinson v Kitzinger [2006] EWHC 2022 (Fam)
- Presentation by Dr Rosie Harding (Keele University)
R v A (No 2) [2001] UKHL 25
- Professor Clare McGlynn (University of Durham)
Group Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution at Norton Rose, Deirdre Walker chaired questions following the presentations.
We were delighted to be co-chairing this important discussion on gender, sexuality and the law.
Daniel Winterfeldt & Laura Hodgson
Co-Chairs, The InterLaw Diversity Forum
Download Your Copy of our Groundbreaking Publication Barriers to Application for Judicial Appointment for LGBT Lawyers produced with the Law Society and the Bar Council
Please click here to download the InterLaw Diversity Forum’s groundbreaking report produced with The Law Society and The Bar Council on Barriers to Application for Judicial Appointment for LGBT Lawyers: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Experiences published in September 2011. It was co-authored by Professor Leslie J. Moran and Daniel K. Winterfeldt and features a forward from the Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission Christopher Stevens.
Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) LGBT Judicial Outreach Event: September Meeting and Networking Drinks (Wednesday 21 September)
The InterLaw Diversity Forum monthly meeting on Wednesday 21 September was generously hosted by Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP.
We devoted our September meeting to considering issues for LGBT candidates for judicial appointment. This will be a practical outreach event run with the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and will be of interest to anyone who may be considering a career on the bench.
The InterLaw Diversity Forum for LGBT Networks has recently been working with the JAC to take steps to improve the LGBT diversity of judges.
In this session, attendees had the opportunity to receive expert advice and insight from speakers on the application procedure for the judiciary. We were delighted to welcome JAC’s Selection Manager Stuart Burrows, as well as a member of the judiciary.
As always, the meeting was followed by networking drinks and canapes and many thanks to Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP for generously hosting.
Pop-Up Charity Event to Benefit Stonewall Featuring Skin
The InterLaw Diversity Forum for LGBT Networks hosted a pop-up charity event to celebrate our 3rd anniversary and to benefit Stonewall’s Education for All campaign on Thursday, 15 September 2011 featuring an exclusive DJ set from Skin of Skunk Anansie and generously sponsored by the Law Society. We also had a DJ set from the one and only Jodie Harsh and other surprise DJs and celebrity guests.
Skin is one of Britain’s leading female rock singers. She is also a fashion icon, a renowned DJ, a charity activist, and an inspiring role model. Continually pushing boundaries, she proves that one’s potential can be limitless.
Our venue Diu is nestled on the uber-trendy Greek Street in Soho and is a haven of luxury and glamour. The event ran from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm and the dress code was pre-fashion week glam.
Please see photos on our Facebook page here.
Launch of exclusive report on LGBT diversity in the judiciary. (7 July 2011, The Law Society)
Citizens need to be confident that judges reflect the full diversity of modern Britain. That confidence is vital to the rule of law. LGBT people don’t have that confidence in the judiciary at the moment, perhaps because LGBT judges seem to be very thin on the ground or are simply not visible.
The InterLaw Diversity Forum report on Barriers to Application for Judicial Appointment for LGBT Lawyers was published and there are some challenging findings.
The JAC also took the occasion to announce that it will begin monitoring the sexual orientation of applicants to the judiciary, one of the recommendations of the report.
We held our event at the Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1PL from 18.45 on Thursday, 7 July to discuss what the report tells us and what we should do about it.
We were honoured to have a panel including:
Christopher Stephens, the new Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission, which has responsibility for making judicial appointments and is committed to increasing diversity in the judiciary;
Professor Dame Hazel Genn, Dean of the Faculty of Laws, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at University College London and has undertaken similar studies of women and BME lawyers;
The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Etherton, judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales;
Ben Summerskill, Chief Executive of Stonewall, the leading UK LGB-rights charity and who has advised on our report;
Professor Leslie Moran of Birkbeck College, co-author of the report and was instrumental in its development; and
Daniel Winterfeldt, Co-Chair of the InterLaw Diversity Forum and Head of International Capital Markets at CMS Cameron McKenna, co-author of the report (Chair).
We also had a welcome and introduction from Stephen Ward, Director of Communications, Inclusion and CR at the Law Society and Laura Hodgson, Co-Chair of the InterLaw Diversity Forum from Norton Rose.
After short remarks there was an open question and answer session followed by networking drinks.
For additional details and the full press release from the JAC please see here.
For a full copy of our final report please see here.
