Please join us for a special Black History Month event bringing together all of our networks to explore “Allies & Intersectionality”. We have assembled a fantastic panel of speakers to share with us their views and expertise. 

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We will explore how people can be better allies to Black, Asian and minority ethnic talent in the workplace.

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We will also discuss the importance of intersectionality when exploring equality in the workplace, as all groups exist across ‘multiple identities’ and we must approach people in a complex and complete way.

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Eric Houston, Senior Legal Counsel, RBC

Patti Kachidza, Senior Lawyer, Axiom Global

Julia Mansi, Regulatory Litigation Counsel, Leading Tech Company

Daniel Winterfeldt QC (Hon), Partner, Reed Smith; Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum

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Thanks to our virtual host, Slater and Gordon, for supporting this webinar.

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Please join us for a very special meeting of our Race & Ethnicity Network to celebrate Black History Month. We will speak to two leading lights in the legal community who are blazing trails for other black and ethnic minority talent in the legal profession

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InterLaw Diversity Forum's founder & chair and Reed Smith partner, Daniel Winterfeldt QC (Hon), will be joined by Paulette Mastin, Counsel and senior lawyer in Capital Markets at Linklaters. Paulette has served as Chair of the Black Solicitors Network City Group since 2007. Also joining us is Trevor James, Partner, Morrison & Foerster, who has over 30 years experience in corporate and international tax advice and was the first Black managing partner of a City law firm.

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We will be exploring their career paths and accomplishments, their views on the current antiracism movement and renewed focus on equality in the workplace after the tragic death of George Floyd, as well as the future of Black and minority ethnic talent in the legal sector. As always, we wil be exploring these topics though an intersectional lens. 

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Thanks to our virtual host, Fried Frank, for supporting this webinar.

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Please join us this Friday for an important session of our Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network focused on amplifying black voices in the legal sector in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and others, and the events unfolding in Minneapolis, across the United States, and around the world, including here in the United Kingdom. These events have highlighted the violence, injustice and racism against black people and people of color in our societies.

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Now is not the time for silence. We want to convene a space to allow black voices in the legal sector to come together to share their experiences and thoughts, as well as to provide their guidance to colleagues and employers on how to be better allies to support them. We think it is critical in this time to channel the current feelings of anger, frustration and support into positive, tangible actions to create sustainable change within the legal industry and beyond. 

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When completing registration, you will see an option to share your experiences, questions, and suggested action points with us so that we can address these during the conversation. Should you choose to answer any of these questions, your responses will be shared strictly on a no-names basis during the webinar discussion.

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Speakers:

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• Gretchen Bellamy, Senior Director - Education, Operations, and Initiatives, University Office for Diversity & Inclusion, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Special Advisor to the American Bar Association's Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Profession; Co-lead, InterLaw Diversity Forum Apollo Leadership Institute

• Charlene Brown, Co-founder & Director, Howlett Brown

• Sheldon Mills, Executive Director - Strategy and Competition, Financial Conduct Authority; Chair of Trustees, Stonewall; Co-Lead, InterLaw Diversity Forum BAME Network

• Usha Puri-Dewage, Global Manager of Professional Development, Cooley; Head of Strategy, Leadership, and Learning Development, InterLaw Diversity Forum

• Laura Durrant (Co-moderator), Deputy Chair, Interlaw Diversity Forum; Consulting Director, Howlett Brown

• Daniel Winterfeldt (Co-moderator), Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum; Partner, Reed Smith

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At this meeting of our Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network we celebrate the next generation of BAME leaders in the legal sector.

Career progression and the talent pipeline are critical to ensuring the success of BAME legal talent. We have put together a panel of BAME talent who have blazed their own path in the profession, both at law firms and in-house, while working to support diverse talent inside and outside of their own organisations. We hope that you find them as inspiring as we do!

Speakers:

Margaret Asante

Associate – Global Project Finance, Energy and Infrastructure Group

Allen & Overy

Lauren Pinnock-Monteith

Legal Counsel EMEA

Expedia Group

Lyndell Beguinua

Legal Counsel

Leading Tech Company

Laura Durrant (Co-moderator)

Deputy Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum Consulting

Director, Howlett Brown

Daniel Winterfeldt QC (Hon) (Co-moderator)

Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum

Partner, Reed Smith

Thank you to our virtual host Gowling WLG for supporting this webinar. 

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At this meeting of our BAME Network we bring together a panel of BAME women at the top of their game to discuss “Intersectionality: BAME & Gender”.  We will explore their career paths, how they have overcome obstacles along the way, and discuss how the current COVID-19 pandemic is impacting their world. 

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Speakers:

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Denise Nurse
Co-founder, Halebury Legal Services

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Janvi Patel
Co-founder, Halebury Legal Services

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Laura Durrant
Deputy Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum
Consulting Director, Howlett Brown

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Daniel Winterfeldt QC (Hon)
Founder & Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum
Partner, Global Capital Markets, Reed Smith

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Thank you to our virtual host Allen & Overy for supporting this webinar. 

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Please join us on Tuesday, 3 March at Macfarlanes for an insightful discussion on how to be an effective BAME ally. This sessions is intended for both BAME professionals, as well as for allies who wish to learn how to better support them.

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Diverse members of the legal profession face increased challenges at every stage of their careers. A key factor to their success is the support they receive from allies, mentors, and sponsors. Our panel includes BAME professionals and allies who will share their insights and experiences about their own careers paths, and about the support they have both received themselves and provided to others along the way. 

Speakers: 

• Anthony Burnett-Scott, Partner – Commercial Real Estate, Macfarlanes; Co-chair, BME & Friends Network

• Laura Durrant, Head of Litigation, Regulatory & Investigations, RBS (former) (Moderator)

• Koser Shaheen, Professional Support Lawyer, Herbert Smith Freehills

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Thanks to Macfarlanes for generously hosting this event.

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Please join us for on Wednesday, 6 November at Weightmans for the last meeting in 2019 of the InterLaw Diversity Forum’s Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network. We will be discussing the barriers to the recruitment, retention, and promotion of BAME talent in the legal sector.

While law firms have duties as service providers and employers under the Equality Act 2010, and are also subject to the SRA requirements on equality and diversity contained in Principle Nine and chapter two of the SRA handbook, we struggle with meeting these requirements as employers. Although some progress has been made, there remain barriers for black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) talent, both in terms of access to and progression within the profession. For example, although nearly 12% of solicitors in the profession are from a BAME background, they make up only 6% of partners. (Source: The Law Society) 

We have put together a panel of experts to discuss and explore the key barriers, as well as the key solutions to this critical issue. 

We also want to hear from you!

Please send an email to admin@interlawdiversityforum.org with the header “InterLaw Diversity Forum Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network: “Barriers to BAME Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement in the Legal Sector - Crowdsourcing Solutions” and tell us:

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(1)  one barrier to BAME talent in the legal sector; and 

(2) one solution to remove barriers for BAME talent in the legal sector. 

We will be basing our panel discussion off of your input! 

Our panel includes:  

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• Ijeoma E. Okoli, Global Asset Management Compliance Lead, Executive Director, JPMorgan Chase & Co. 

• Charlene Brown, Co-Founder & Director of Howlett Brown; Legal Counsel, BNY Mellon (former)

• Ann-Marie Goodbody, Managing Consultant, Major, Lindsey & Africa

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Founder, InterLaw Diversity Forum; Partner, Reed Smith (Moderator)  

Thanks to Weightmans for generously hosting this event!

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Please join us for a very special meeting of the InterLaw Diversity Forum’s LGBT+ Network celebrating Black History Month by looking at the intersection of LGBT+ with  Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME).

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We will be speaking with a panel of BAME and LGBT+ professionals who will discuss their challenges and triumphs with us, as well as observations on how we can be better allies to our intersectional colleagues.

• Rob Berkley MBE, Founder and Managing Editor at BlkOutUK.com

Award-winning busybody, recovering academic and reforming social reformer, Rob is currently developing BlackOutUK, a community owned media asset for and by black gay men. He recently completed a stint advising the BBC on accountability and audience engagement. Impatient with injustice and exasperated by wasted potential, he volunteers on the boards of Baring Foundation, and Doc Society, has previously served on the boards of LGBT rights charity Stonewall, the Equality and Diversity Forum, and been Chair of Naz Project (NPL). He was Director of the racial justice think-tank Runnymede Trust 2009-14. Alongside his academic writing on education, social justice and community organizing, a recently appointed Simon Industrial Fellow at the University of Manchester, he has lectured across the UK and beyond, and written for The Guardian and The Independent on social justice and movement-building. His current fixation on forms of collaborative ownership, innovations in media technology and their potential for social justice means that he spends a lot of time on his phone and calls it ‘research’. Dr Berkeley was awarded an MBE in 2015 for services to equality. 

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• Yetunde Dania, Partner, Trowers & Hamlins, Real Estate Litigation Partner

Yetunde is a partner in the Trowers & Hamlins' Property Litigation team. She specialises in residential landlord and tenant litigation and issues on behalf of landlords in the social housing sector. 

She joined Trowers & Hamlins' in 2011 to help set up their Birmingham office. 

Yetunde read Law at Leicester Polytechnic, before going onto to study for a LLM in Human Rights & Civil Liberties at Leicester University before studying the Legal Practice Course in its first year at De Montfort University. Yetunde qualified as a solicitor in 1996 and made partner in 2005. 

Yetunde takes a special interest in mentoring and encouraging young people to achieve their full potential having benefited from people taking the time to mentor and support her from a young age. Yetunde's personal mantra is to "live life to the fullest" and "Believe that you can achieve anything you put your mind to”.

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• Krishna Omkar, Senior Associate, King & Spalding

Krishna Omkar practises in international mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and capital markets transactions at King & Spalding. He is actively involved in the intersection of business and equality, served as pro bono counsel in the decriminalisation of same sex relations in India, and was invited by the UN Under Secretary General to host the UN’s consultation on LGBTQI rights this year. Krishna has been named a Future Leader by the Financial Times, and received a 2019 Asian Achievers Award.

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• Daniel Winterfeldt, Partner, Reed Smith; Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

Daniel is a partner in Reed Smith’s Global Capital Markets practice. 

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Daniel founded the Forum for US Securities Lawyers in London in 2006 to address US securities issues in the London market across law firms, banks and intermediaries. The Forum was short-listed by the British Legal Awards in 2009 for ‘Law Firm Innovation’. The Forum was 'Highly Commended" by the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards in 2016 in the category ‘Innovation in Navigating Regulation’.

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Daniel is also the founder and chair of the InterLaw Diversity Forum, which seeks to promote meritocracy and inclusion for diverse groups in the legal sector. The InterLaw Diversity Forum currently has more than 6000 members from over 300 law firms and 500 corporates and financial institutions. Since its founding in 2008, the InterLaw Diversity Forum has expanded its scope to encompass all strands of diversity and inclusion (including social mobility), with a particular focus on cultural change in the workplace and 'multiple identities'/intersectionality. The InterLaw Diversity Forum was "Highly Commended" by the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards in 2016 for 'Innovation in Human Resources". 

Daniel was named the "Legal Innovator of the Year" at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards in 2012 for his work in capital markets and diversity and inclusion. 

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Daniel was a member of the Equality & Diversity Committee at the Law Society of England & Wales for six years and is a member of the Judicial Diversity Forum organised by the Judicial Appointments Commission.

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Daniel was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States in 2013.

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Thanks to Gowling WLG for generously hosting this event!

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We are proud to support BT's Ethnic Diversity Network for their Black History Month Event: “In Conversation with Sandie Okoro, General Counsel, World Bank Group” on Thursday, 3rd October from 12 pm to 2 pm hosted at the BT Centre in London.

This event is also supported by Hedley May. 

Sandie Okoro will sit down with Daniel Winterfeldt, Founder, InterLaw Diversity Forum and Global Capital Markets Partner, Reed Smith, for a conversation exploring her career highlights, as well as her challenges along the way, and what Black History Month means to her.

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Sandie is a long-time supporter and Patron of the InterLaw Diversity Forum.

Dr. Sandie Okoro is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the World Bank Group.

As the first British national and the first black woman to hold this role, Sandie is the principal advisor and spokesperson on all legal matters for the world’s leading development finance institution. Prior to joining the World Bank, Sandie was General Counsel for HSBC Global Asset Management, Deputy General Counsel of HSBC Retail Banking and Wealth Management, and Global General Counsel at Barings. 

Sandie is an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple in the United Kingdom (2018) and was named one of the Upstanding 100 Leading Ethnic Minority Executives (2016), Top 20 Global General Counsel (2019) by the Financial Times and was recognized as Britain’s 5th most influential person of African and African Caribbean heritage (2019) by the Powerlist. Sandie holds Honorary Doctorates in Law from City University London (2014), London Southbank University (2018), and her alma mater Birmingham University (2019). She received a lifetime achievement award from the UK Black Solicitors Network (2016) and was named one of the Power 100 Women by City A.M. and 100 Women to Watch by Female FTSE Board. 

Sandie received the Howard University 2019 Vanguard Women Award for her accomplishments as a woman of color who has blazed the trail and her commitment to mentoring young women and advancing the rights of women and girls globally. She is also the recipient of the Beyond the Glass Ceiling Award presented by the Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys (2019) and the Chambers 100 Outstanding Global General Counsel (2019). Sandie has also been named by Chambers as one of the 2019 Global 100 influencers.

Sandie is an ardent defender and champion for women empowerment, gender equality, and justice for all. Outside of work, Sandie is a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and prior to joining the World Bank Group, she was a council member of the human rights organization JUSTICE, Ambassador for the Law Society’s Diversity Access Scheme and sat on the Equality Standards Panel of the Premier League. 

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Follow her on Twitter @SandieOkoro

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Please join the InterLaw Diversity Forum Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network for a Black History Month event celebrating the next generation of black leaders in the legal sector.

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We have put together a very special panel of future leaders from the legal sector to discuss the current challenges for black lawyers, the outlook for the future, and their role in changing the landscape of the profession for black and BAME lawyers. 

Joining us are:

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Daniel Burnand, Associate, BCLP

Daniel Burnand is an associate at BCLP, specialising in commercial real estate and development. He developed a passion for issues relating to inclusivity and diversity following his undergraduate degree in history, which focussed on the impact of colonialism, and his masters in Race and Resistance. Prior to joining BCLP, he worked overseas for four years, predominantly based in Vietnam. He now regularly volunteers at a free legal advice centre, is actively involved in a range of inclusivity and diversity initiatives and acts as a mentor both within the firm and through networks outside of work.

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Isaac Eloi, Trainee Solicitor, Freeths; Co-founder, Black Men in Law Network

Isaac Eloi is a Trainee Solicitor at Freeths LLP and is the Co-Founder of the Black Men In Law Network. The 210 student & professional members-strong Network launched in March 2018 to increase the numbers of trained and retained Black men within the legal profession. Alongside mentoring aspiring lawyers, Isaac’s interests lie in the intersections of his Blackness, Caribbean heritage, gender and queer identity and has written in publications such as AZ Magazine which promotes the work of LGBT people of colour. He also is the 2018 UK Diversity Legal Awards recipient of the BSN Network’s Rising Star in Entrepreneurship Award.

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Nicolle Odutoye, Associate (Banking & Finance), Reed Smith; Co-Chair, Reed Smith Multicultural Network

Nicolle is a newly qualified associate in the Banking & Finance team at Reed Smith LLP. She is also co-chair of the firm’s Multicultural Network (MCN) which exists to give employees and clients of the firm opportunities to celebrate their differences and to raise awareness of and discuss the issues that are pertinent to black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) legal professionals. The MCN also works closely with graduate recruitment and HR to have a tangible impact on the recruitment and retention of BAME employees. Nicolle also acts as secretary for the steering committee of NOTICED, an inter-firm diversity network. 

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Lauren Pinnock-Monteith, Legal Counsel (EMEA), Expedia Group

Lauren has recently joined the Expedia Group Legal Department working as their lodging lawyer solely responsible for the EMEA super region. Lauren also supports the Health & Safety team around the world. Lauren started her journey at IKEA UK & Ireland in 2012. She rose through the ranks from being a cashier at IKEA stores right through to training and qualifying as a solicitor at the company in 2017. Lauren was IKEA's first "home grown" lawyer and has set a great precedent for future IKEA lawyers. Alongside her legal career, she is an avid motorcyclist and runs a female motorcycling influencer page with over 270,000 followers.

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Daniel Winterfeldt, Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

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Thanks to BCLP for generously hosting this event!

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Over the past several years, the numbers of BAME individuals entering the legal profession has almost doubled. Despite this, when looking at the pipeline there is still a high level of attrition for BAME lawyers beyond junior levels. These issues are not just present in law firms, but also are a key focus of in-house legal employers.

To address these issues and redress the imbalance of BAME professionals at mid- and senior levels of the profession we must look beyond entry-level recruitment and focus on the retention and promotion of BAME talent, as well as on our lateral recruitment efforts. 

We have put together a panel of experts to share best practice, as well as the client perspective on BAME talent.

Speakers:

• Patti Kachidza, Head of Litigation, M&G Prudenti

• Nadine Dyer, Respect & Inclusion,Deloitte

• Sonia Janday, Senior Legal Counsel at Aviva Investors, Co-Chair Aviva Origins & Asian Legal Awards Lead

• Asker Saeed, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Fried Frank (former in-house counsel at Pratt & Whitney)

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Founder & Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (moderator)

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Thanks to Fried Frank for generously hosting this event.

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In July 2012, the InterLaw Diversity Forum, with support from The Law Society and the Bar Council, surveyed almost 2,000 respondents from all strands of diversity and inclusion in the UK legal sector. From this data it published its ground-breaking report, Career Progression in the Legal Sector, with a preface from Baroness Patricia Scotland PC QC. The report combined hard data with respondents’ perceptions of their own career progression, as well as their perception of the fairness and transparency of policies and practices in their workplaces. 

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The goal of the report was to identify the barriers facing these diverse groups and to provide recommendations to address and ultimately solve these issues. The report told us that lawyers from protected classes under the Equalities Act and from disadvantaged backgrounds were working harder and earning less than their straight, white, elite-educated male counterparts. In fact, the more “boxes” they ticked (i.e. intersectionality/multiple identities) with regards to diversity and social mobility, the more pronounced this disadvantage became. We recommended in this report that law firms needed to change their cultures to become more meritocratic by: (i) adopting targets; (ii) changing culture; (iii) training their leaders; and (iv) addressing social mobility.

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Since this report we have shifted our focus at the InterLaw Diversity Forum towards intersectionality and widened our scope beyond LGBT+ to encompass all strands of diversity and inclusion. We are updating this research and publishing a new report this year. Our research tells us that diverse women in the legal sector tend to earn less than their white female counterparts (who in turn earn less than their white male counterparts).

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Please join us on Wednesday, 5 June at Weil, Gotshal & Manges for a very special meeting of our Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network in collaboration with our Gender Equality Initiative (a partnership with The Law Society) examining the intersection of gender and race & ethnicity. Our panel will feature BAME women, as well as their allies, to compare and contrast their experiences in the legal profession. What can we learn from the crossroads of gender and race & ethnicity? How can we be better allies to support them? 

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Speakers:

• Laura Durrant, Partner, White & Case 

• Lisa D'Aguiar, Director and Assistant General Counsel-EMEA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

• Sadia Salam, Executive Coach; Former Head of Legal - EMEA and Asia Pacific, Oliver Wyman

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Global Capital Markets Partner, Reed Smith; Chair, InteLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator

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With an introduction from Simon Davis, Vice President, The Law Society; Partner, Clifford Chance

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Thanks to Weil for generously hosting this event.

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Career progression is a key issue for diverse lawyers. Once we get past the recruitment and hiring phase, how do we find a long-term career path for ourselves? This is one of the key focuses of the InterLaw Diversity Forum’s BAME Network - supporting career progression for BAME lawyers and legal professionals. 

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Please join on on Wednesday, 1 May at Milbank where we will gather ar panel of experts who share their experiences and advice as BAME legal professionals who have climbed the ladder to success

Speakers: 

• David Ampaw, Partner, DLA Piper 

• Vanessa Harvey, Recruitment Manager, Milbank 

• Bernadette Kisaalu, Principal Lawyer, BT Customer Experience

• Sheldon Mills, Senior Director, Mergers at Competition and Markets Authority 

• Keon Stewart, Associate, Field Fisher

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Partner, Reed Smith; Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

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Thanks to Milbank for generously hosting this event.

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Supporting career progression for diverse talent is a key focus of the InterLaw Diversity Forum. Research has shown that Diverse members of the legal profession face increased challenges at every stage of their careers. 

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Please join us on Wednesday, 10 April at Taylor Wessing for the monthly meeting of our Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network and this skills-based session to jump start your career.

We have assembled a team of experts to lead mini-sessions on personal brand, leadership, and navigating recruitment (including interviews, CVs and applications). We hope you leave these sessions feeling prepared to take your career to the next level!

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Speakers:

• Banke Odunaike, Senior Director, EMEA Legal, CBRE Ltd.

• Dan Robertson, Director, Vercida Consulting

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Partner, Reed Smith; Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum

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Thanks to Taylor Wessing for generously hosting this event.

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Please join us on Wedneday, 6 March at the offices of Reed Smith for an insightful discussion on how to be an effective BAME ally.  This sessions is intended for both BAME professionals, as well as for allies who wish to learn how to better support them.

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Diverse members of the legal profession face increased challenges at every stage of their careers. A key factor to their success is the support they receive from allies, mentors, and sponsors. Our panel includes BAME professionals and allies who will share their insights and experiences about their own careers paths, and about the support they have both received themselves and provided to others along the way. 

Speakers: 

• Patti Kachidza, Senior Lawyer, Axiom Global 

• Sun-Hee Park, Senior Counsel, EBRD 

• Usha Puri-Dewage, Manager of Professional Development, Cooley LLP

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Partner, Reed Smith; Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

Thanks to Reed Smith for generously hosting this event.

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On Wednesday, 7 November Macfarlanes hosted the monthly meeting of our Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network where we discussed  “The In-House Perspective: BAME Recruitment, Retention and Advancement”. 

Statistics show that representation from the BAME community in the legal profession is out of line with population statistics, especially as we go more senior in the profession. We also know that firms struggle to retain and promote BAME talent once they are recruited, losing their experience and know-how, as well as incurring costs to recruit and replace them.

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We have assembled a panel of in-house legal counsel to share the client’s perspective on how law firms and legal employers can unlock BAME talent to achieve a better business result! You will walk away from this meeting with practical tips and solutions to achieve your BAME talent goals. 

Speakers:

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• Rubya Ramjahn, Legal Director - EMEA Transportation and Delivery Experience, eBay 

• Sadia Salam, Executive Coach; Former Chief Counsel – EMEA & APR, Oliver Wyman Group

• Ruth Paul, Senior Legal Counsel, Link Asset Services 

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Global Capital Markets Partner, Reed Smith; Founder & Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

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Thanks to Macfarlanes for generously hosting this event.

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On Wednesday, 3 October we were welcomed by Gowling WLG for a special evening with the InterLaw Diversity Forum’s Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Network to celebrate Black History Month.

Black History Month was first celebrated in the United Kingdom in London in 1987 and began as a way for remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. We put together a stellar panel of movers and shakers in the legal community to reflect on their personal journey, career accomplishments and what Black History Month means to them. 

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We will explored some exclusive preliminary BAME findings from our InterLaw Diversity Forum: Career Progression in the Legal Sector 2018 report coming later this year. Check out our ground-breaking InterLaw Diversity Forum: Career Progression in the Legal Sector 2012  here.

Our panelists were:

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• Dr. Tunde Okewale MBE, Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers; Founder, Urban Lawyers

• Dr. Peter Herbert OBE, Human Rights Barrister; Chair of The Society of Black Lawyers; Member of Commonwealth Magistrates & Judges Association

• Nicolle Odutoye, Trainee Solicitor & Co-Chair Multi-Cultural Network, Reed Smith; Secretary, NOTICED

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Global Capital Markets, Reed Smith; Founder & Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (moderator)

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Thanks to Gowling WLG for generously hosting this event.

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On Wednesday 1 August we celebrated our 10th anniversary at our annual summer charity party generously hosted by Jones Day.

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We brought together our LGBT+ Network, our BAME Network, and our ENABLE (Dis)ability Network to celebrate our achievements over the past ten years.

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We also used the occasion to mark the launch our Gender Equality Initiative in collaboration he Law Society.

Speakers:

• Kate Kinninmont, Chief Executive, Women in Film & TV (UK); Director, UK Time's Up movement

• Simon Davis, Vice President, The Law Society; Partner, Clifford Chance

Collections taken at the door raised £1300 to benefit the Kaleidoscope Trust’s vital work supporting LGBT+ equality globally.

Thanks to Jones Day for generously hosting this event.

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Social mobility is an ever-present challenge that affects all groups and one which is especially difficult to tackle in the United Kingdom.

According to the findings of our ground-breaking 2012 report Career Progression in the Legal Sector, it is still the case that lawyers are drawn very disproportionately from those who attended fee-paying schools and/or Russell Group institutions of higher education. This is a complicated area, closely linked to developments in education, society at large, and government policy. 

The legal sector appears to value and reward an elite education to a surprisingly disproportionate degree. If we look at the entirety of the legal sector, we can see that the workforce as a whole is in fact drawn from a fairly wide pool. But the positions of power and prestige in the legal sector remain disproportionately in the hands of those who attended Oxford or Cambridge universities. This bias in promotion and advancement overlooks a huge pool of talent, and this is talent the profession can ill afford to miss out on as the global environment becomes ever more competitive. Social mobility is an issue that affects all groups, but also strongly intersects with race and ethnicity as racial and ethnic minority Britons are more likely than white Britons to attend new universities.

Some of our recommendations from 2012 still ring true today. Employers need to think hard about how to broaden their recruitment pool to ensure that talent is not overlooked simply because it is not sitting in the obvious places. Promotion and advancement policies and practices must be reviewed to ensure that they are inclusive so that they can better recognize and reward talent and accomplishment, and drive improvement.

Please join us for an in-depth discussion with experts on how we as individuals and as employers can tackle the social mobility issue and push for a better legal profession. 


Speakers:
 

• Rob Powell, Head of Pro Bono and CSR, Weil Gotshal 

• Julia Stephenson, Senior Legal Advisor, ITV Commercial & Marketing Legal Affairs

• Sabien Khan, Senior Legal Counsel, Wellcome Trust

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Founder & Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

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Thanks to Shearman & Sterling for generously hosting this event.

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In order to highlight and support the progression of BAME women in the legal profession we will be focusing on “BAME Women at the Top: Inspiring Stories”.

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The Law Society's 2017 annual report of the legal progression found that there was an increase in the proportion of solicitors coming from BAME backgrounds - who now make up 16% of the profession (19,145 lawyers). The number of solicitors from BAME backgrounds has more than doubled in proportion compared to the previous decade and 57% of them are women.

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Research on intersectionality has shown that the more diverse you are – the more ‘boxes you tick’ – the more challenges you face. This is borne out in our 2012 report Career Progression in the Legal Sector, as well as in the research of 2017 Apollo Project winner Vivienne Ming in her book The Tax on Being Different. What’s more, these challenges increase the more senior you get.

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Our stellar panel includes BAME women lawyers from both in-house and private practice backgrounds sharing their top tips for success, explaining how they have expertly navigated career challenges, and giving their insights on the future of the profession.

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Speakers:

• Pamela Dusu, Senior Lawyer, Globeleq

• Patti Kachidza, Senior Lawyer, Axiom Global

• Habi Patel, Freelance Consultant in International Development

• Selina Segayam, Partner, Gibson Dunn

• Homa Wilson, Partner, Hodge Jones & Allen

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (moderator)

• Dee Sekar, Deputy Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (moderator)

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Thanks to CMS for generously hosting this event.

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One of the basic building blocks for a successful diversity and inclusion programme is an employee network or resource group. Networks provide a space for diverse talent from a particular group or with shared life experiences to come together to network, to support each other, and to provide group-specific feedback to the business. They can be the engines for progress for a particular group within your organization. 

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Why do employee network groups for race and ethnicity in the legal sector seem to struggle to get launched or to sustain themselves once launched? What are the key ingredients for the success of employee network groups? What can we learn from other strands of D&I to ensure success within this space? What can you do to launch or revitalize your organization’s BAME or multicultural network? 

We have assembled a panel of movers and shakers in this arena for an interactive session exploring the above with best practice, tips, and tricks to the secrets to success!

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Speakers:

• Paul McFarlane, Chair, BSN - Partner, Weightmans LLP 

• Nadine Dyer, Client Feedback, Deloitte 

• John Oladeji, Trainee, Reed Smith 

• Dee Sekar, Deputy Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum

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Thanks to Norton Rose Fulbright for generously hosting this event.

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We know from our research that diverse members of the legal profession face increased challenges during their careers at all stages. A key factor in the success of a diverse attorney is the support they receive from allies, mentors and sponsors. 

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One question that comes up often is: What can we all do to support our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues? We are putting together a panel of allies who can tell you about the work they and their organisations do to support their BAME colleagues and other BAME professionals in the legal profession. 

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Speakers:

• Justine Thompson, Diversity and CR Manager, Eversheds Sutherland

• Ross Jennison, Associate - Real estate at JCRA

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Partner, Reed Smith; Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum

• Dee Sekar, Deputy Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

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Thanks to Eversheds Sutherland for generously hosting this event.

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Please join us for an interactive session on providing advice and guidance for BAME talent with practical tools to secure your first job/or the next role in your career path.

We will have presentations from panel experts along with focused roundtable breakout sessions.

Our stellar panel includes:

Neel Mehta, Principal Legal Consultant, Hays 

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Mariyam Hassan, Head of Wellbeing & Benefits, Shearman & Sterling LLP

Mari is Head of Wellbeing & Benefits at Shearman & Sterling LLP which also includes responsibility for diversity & inclusion for the London office. She has broad HR experience working in the legal and services industries for international and global organisations. Mari has worked in a variety of roles which includes responsibility for day to day HR services, graduate recruitment, lateral recruitment as well as strategic change programmes. She has a strong interest in talent management, diversity & inclusion, wellbeing, employee engagement, employee relations, technology and innovation.

Cynthia Davis, CEO, BAME Recruitment Ltd

Cynthia V Davis is CEO and Founder of Diversity and Inclusion specialist firm, BAME Recruitment, an organisation that strives to challenge the status quo to deliver fairer employment and hiring processes that are representative and inclusive, fully reflective of the diverse population in the UK. BAME Recruitment work within the Private, Public and Charity/ Not for Profit sectors on ways to better attract and retain staff from BAME, LGBT, Female Leaders, Disability and other diverse backgrounds. Cynthia is on the judging panel of the Future Leaders Award Symposium, a movement that identifies and highlights the careers of women who work in the City, a cause that is very dear to her heart. Cynthia is a mentor to young adults and 11-18 years via the Stephen Lawrence Trust Montorship Programme, she is also a public speaker committed to improving equal opportunities for people from all walks of life by encouraging and motivating the next generation of leaders. 

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Daniel Winterfeldt, Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum; Partner, Reed Smith (Moderator)

Dee Sekar, Deputy Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum (Moderator)

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Thanks to Reed Smith for generously hosting this event.

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This combined meeting of our LGBT+ and Race & Ethnicity (BAME) Networks will be commemorating LGBT History Month and celebrating BAME voices and intersectionality.

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We have put together an inspiring panel of legal professionals to share both their work as well as their personal journeys, to kick the new year off with a bang.

Our speakers are:

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Nimmisha Aslam, Associate, Russell-Cooke 

Nimmisha is a Solicitor practicing in Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury Law and is a board member of the Law Society LGBT+ Committee. This committee seeks to represent the interests of LGBT lawyers within the profession. She is also a voluntary mentor for a women’s charity called ‘Laamiga’ which helps BAME women from refugee and asylum backgrounds to find employment.

Narind Singh, Partner, Clifford Chance

Narind Singh is a partner in the Financial Institutions Corporate Group at Clifford Chance. He specialises in financial services corporate transactions and M&A for banks, insurers and asset managers. Narind is the senior champion for Arcus, the Clifford Chance LGBT employee network group. He’s an active member of the group’s steering committee and has chaired the committee of the firm’s tenth Pride art show. He has spoken at several events, including collaborative event between the firm’s LGBT and BAME networks and faith networks. Narind has also spoken openly on panels about his personal experiences of overcoming certain mental health issues and is a Clifford Chance mental health advocate. He is the partner lead on the firm’s non-gendered pro-bono project, which works for inclusion in UK passports of a non-gender specific alternative to male or female. Narind also provides support and guidance to senior management and the firm’s executive leadership group in supporting LGBT equality.

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Muzaffar Shah, Associate, Weil

Muzz is an associate in the Technology and IP Transactions Group at Weil in London. He acts on a pro bono basis for several leading LGBT+ charities and campaigning organisations, with a particular focus on information laws impacting charity funding and the privacy rights of LGBT+ individuals. He is also an active member of the firm’s LGBT+ international affinity group – WEGALA – which assists the firm with the monitoring of inclusion and diversity at both recruitment stage and later stage careers at Weil, and hosts a biannual conference for the firm’s self-identifying employees.

S Chelvan, Barrister, No5 Chambers (London)

Chelvan is a barrister at No5 Barristers Chambers, based in London. He has an international reputation as an activist/academic/advocate relating to protection and human rights claims based on sexual or gender identity or expression in "Europe and beyond" (UNHCR Ireland, December 2017). He was awarded Legal Aid Barrister of the Year in 2014, is referred to as a Powerhouse in the Black Law Directory Powerlist of 34 top black influencers in the law and is the highest ranked lawyer in the most recent Independent on Sunday Rainbowlist of the top 101 most influential LGBTI individuals in the UK.

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Anthony Francis, Lead IT Project Manager, Lloyds Banking Group

Anthony Francis is a Lead IT Project Manager at Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) and is currently leading on various workstreams under their Retail and Community Bank transformation programme, having previously managed portfolios with a combined budget in excess of £100m. Anthony joined LBG as a Graduate in 2014 and has a reputation for not only being able to deliver things but also in the way in which he portrays the Groups values in doing so. Anthony is recognised as a role model through the Group and has featured on its BAME Role Model list for the previous 2 years. Anthony plays a key role supporting the Group with its LGBT agenda, as well as organising a number of key events throughout the year he is also the Regional Co-Lead for the Rainbow networks South and Wales region which represents c.2000 members and supporters. Anthony was instrumental in the Groups participation in UK Black Pride 2017 which was the first time the Group had ever participated in the event which saw thousands of BAME LGBT individuals coming together to celebrate their sexual orientation with their friends and families.

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Moderators:

Dee Sekar, Deputy Chair and D&I Specialist, InterLaw Diversity Forum

Daniel Wintereldt, Founder & Chair, InterLaw Diversity Forum; Partner, Reed Smith

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Thanks to Weil Gotshal & Manges for generously hosting this event.

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At this meeting of our BAME Network we will discuss the in-house perspective on BAME inclusion in the legal sector. We will explore BAME recruitment, retention, and advancement, and hear from our panel of experts who are at the top of their game in the in-house world.

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We are very honored to have joining us the amazing:

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• Funke Abimbola MBE FRSA, UK General Counsel & Head of Financial Compliance, Roche

• Sophie Chandauka, Executive Director and Chief Administrative Officer – Legal and Compliance Division, EMEA at Morgan Stanley

• Dee Sekar, Deputy Chair and Senior Diversity & Inclusion Specialist, InterLaw Diversity Forum

• Daniel Winterfeldt, Partner, Reed Smith; Founder & Chair of InterLaw Diversity Forum (moderator)

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Thanks to Kingsley Napley for generously hosting this event.

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At this meeting of our BAME Network we will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Black History Month for the legal sector with a panel of inspiring speakers from both law firms and in-house.

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Since its inception in 1987, Black History Month has given us many inspiring stories, reminding us of the tireless efforts of those who have fought for equality in the face of adversity, hate, and even danger.

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We will continue this tradition hearing stories of success and challenges from our stellar panelists:

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Elwin Morgan, Associate, Gowling WLG
Elwin Morgan is a Birmingham-based associate who advises on intellectual property law with an emphasis on transactional IP in the life sciences sector, tech sector, and patent disputes.
Elwin’s science background and experience as a postdoctoral scholar in the United States is an important tool in his understanding of the client’s needs and adds extra value to his advice.
Elwin is of Sierra Leone descent has been associated with charity organisations raising awareness of the plight of its citizens. In addition to this, Elwin acts as a mentor to law students of his former law school.
Elwin holds a Ph.D in Molecular Biology and an M.Sc in Human Genetics.

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Paul McFarlane, Partner, Weightmans LLP

Paul has over 20 years experience advising on all aspects of employment law. Prior to working at Weightmans LLP he worked in-house, firstly for London Transport and then Royal Mail. He regularly writes in the national and HR press on employment law issues.
Paul is also chair of the Employment Lawyers Association’s Legislative & Policy Committee which comments on proposals made for employment law reform by government etc.
Paul is also a Board member of the Black Solicitors Network with responsibility for Careers and Development which involves him engaging with firms to try and promote better diversity and inclusion practices.

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Sharon Blackman, Director and Deputy General Counsel, Citi
An English law qualified Barrister and NY Attorney, Sharon has worked for Citi for over 11 years. She is a Director in the Markets and Securities Services division of Citi’s General Counsel’s Office and heads the legal team responsible for FX, FX Prime brokerage and Ecommence and has previously had responsibility for covering FICC & Equity Derivatives, Strategic Investments and Index Algorithmic products.
Sharon sits on Citi’s EMEA Legal Diversity Committee and represents EMEA on Citi’s Global Legal Diversity Council. She has been chair of the Citi EMEA Pro Bono Committee for the past seven years, which was named In-House Pro Bono Legal Team of the Year at the 2015 TrustLaw Awards.

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Dee Sekar, D&I Specialist, InterLaw Diversity Forum BAME Network Co-Chair (moderator)
Dee Sekar is a UK qualified lawyer and Diversity and Inclusion Specialist. Dee trained at Pinsent Masons and worked at Addleshaw Goddard as a Finance solicitor.
In order to nurture her passion for driving inclusion in the legal profession, Dee moved to Chambers and Partners where she created and led the Global Diversity and General Counsel programmes for 5 years. She worked with law firms and general counsel in the USA, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Dee has also worked as Head of Diversity & Inclusion at LGBT+ corporate membership organisation, OUTstanding and at social enterprise, MyKindaFuture.
Dee is also a Judge for the Halsbury Legal Awards 2018. She is currently studying on the Women in Leadership Executive Programme at Cornell University’s Business School.

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Thanks to Eversheds Sutherland for generously hosting this event!

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