Diversity

Our graduate recruitment strategy is entirely driven by our need to attract and retain the best people. We believe this is best achieved by recruiting people from many different backgrounds, irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, age, religious belief, sexual orientation or  physical ability. 

The initiatives and the organisations that we work with reflect this aim, reaching people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

We also work hard to create a culture in which individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds can fulfill their potential and help the people around them do the same.

Our Inclusivity Group is made up of partners and senior support staff. We established it in 2003 with the aim of embedding diversity and inclusivity into the infrastructure of the firm. It also promotes initiatives to address issues facing groups who are under-represented across the firm.

We've also established a diversity training programme, and have set up staff networks and focus groups based around gender, work/life balance, sexual orientation and gender identity, and ethnicity and multiculturalism.

Externally we participate in a range of initiatives, including The Gender Trust, the Employers' Forum on Belief, and the Stonewall Diversity Champions programme.

To help us deliver our objectives we work alongside organisations such as the Group for Solicitors with Disabilities, Stonewall, Race for Opportunity and Opportunity Now, the Solicitors Regulation Authority's department for Equality and Diversity, and in addition to a variety of student societies and groups.

Attracting top performers
By failing to explore less traditional sources, we run the risk passing over some of the finest talent out there.

That's why we support initiatives to recruit top quality graduates from diverse backgrounds. We also offer direct support via a mentoring scheme in association with universities not traditionally targeted by leading law firms.

Opportunities to experience working at Herbert Smith are available via a number of placement programmes in association with Hackney Community College, London First and the Linkson Fellowship.

We also work to actively encourage groups from ethnic and disadvantaged minority groups through working with initiatives such as Pure Potential, SEO, Target Legal Chances, and EmployAbility. Herbert Smith regularly sponsors events to promote working in the City to diverse audiences, including an open day for black Afro-Caribbean undergraduates in collaboration with other law firms and the publishers GTI and the Minority Lawyers Conference.

We make available our London office diversity data

It’s our goal to be the employer of choice for graduates from every background. This why we take diversity as seriously as we do.