The InterLaw Diversity Forum was established in 2008 by founder & chair Daniel Winterfeldt QC (Hon), originally as an inter-organisational forum for all LGBT+ personnel in the legal sector.  Since its founding the InterLaw Diversity Forum has expanded its scope beyond LGBT+ to encompass all strands of diversity and inclusion (including Race & Ethnicity, Disability, Gender, and social mobility), with a particular focus on cultural change in the workplace and 'multiple identities'/intersectionality.  Our mission is to foster inclusion for all diverse, socially mobile, and under-represented talent working in the legal sector, and to promote meritocracy in all sectors by working to 'level the playing field' in order to create environments where the best talent can succeed.

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Events and membership are free and open to anyone working in the legal sector, both lawyers (including private practice and in-house counsel), as well as non-lawyers and business services staff.  

 

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Since the launch of the InterLaw Diversity Forum, the legal sector’s performance in Stonewall’s Work Equality Index (WEI) has dramatically improved:

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• In 2007 there were no law firms represented in the Top 100 Employers, and the legal sector ranked second from the bottom

 

• In 2017 there were 17 law firms recognized in the Top 100 Employers, and the legal sector was the top-ranking sector overall.

 

Stonewall has stated: “A major part of the movement forward for the [legal] sector has been the InterLaw Diversity Forum. It helped provide a sector specific focus."

 

This success has encouraged the InterLaw Diversity Forum to expand our offering. 

 

The InterLaw Diversity Forum currently has more than 9,000 members and supporters from 300 law firms and chambers, and from 500 corporates and financial institutions.

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We are volunteer led and run as a not-for-profit.