Diversity lesson of the week: Challenge authority when it is misguided

Stories about diversity in the legal profession - or its lack thereof - have certainly dominated the headlines over the last year. It has all been something of an embarrassment for those at the top of the legal totem pole to belatedly realise that a profession dominated by the male, pale, and stale is no longer acceptable in the 21st century.

Sexist attitudes towards women lawyers took centre stage following the Proudman-Sumptiongate controversies, so much so that the struggles of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) lawyers was - if not forgotten - pushed to the periphery of the debate.

The statistics still make for uncomfortable reading. Official figures from the Law Society and Bar Council show that only 5.5 per cent of QCs and 8.6 per cent of law firm partners come from ethnic minority backgrounds, despite 20.5 per cent of pupils and 22.7 per cent of trainees coming from the same.

These quite frankly abysmal numbers reinforce those recently released by the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) in its latest diversity league table, leading the group to unsurprising liken the journey of BAME lawyers to that of an 'Egyptian pyramid'.

There is, however, cause for celebration. In the same week that Bobbie Cheema-Grubb QC became the first female Asian High Court judge to be sworn in to the judiciary, the BSN honoured those individuals and legal businesses that have championed the cause of diversity.

Linklaters and Hogan Lovells were the big winners on a night of glitz and glamour in London, taking home awards between them for their recruitment and talent management initiatives, while Freeths, Fasken Martineau, and Coram Chambers won the much coveted awards for national firm, international firm and chambers of the year, respectively.

Giving keynote speeches during the ceremony, Dame Linda Dobbs and Mr Justice Dingemans discussed the challenges facing the profession, with the latter commenting: 'Diversity is about fairness and fairness is what we lawyers and judges are all about.'

The most impassioned speech, though, came from Walter H. White Jr, a London-based partner at US firm McGuire Woods, and the winner of the BSN's lifetime achievement award.

'I did not grow up respecting the rule of law,' said White. 'I grew up respecting the lawyers who changed the law to make it more just. In my world, the law was fundamentally flawed and always had been so in the United States of America.

'I grew up knowing that the law was unfair. In my family, I was taught to respect the ramifications of violating the law, but I was never permitted to view the law or those who enforced the law as legitimate.'