Slaughter and May

Diversity

7.4 / 10
84 reviews
How would you describe your firm's commitment to diversity?
2012 Reviews

  • The partners are overwhelmingly male - but why wouldn't they be? Most women do eventually lay their career aside at some point to have a family. Some come back, some don't. Of those that do, they have to compete (and win) against their male peers, who have been able to apply themselves for longer - mystery solved. RE: ethnic minorities, the trainee intake is very mixed, so the firms scores well there. And their approach to disability is commendable - being disabled myself, I have found their support network cohesive and helpful. Not sure about child care and maternity leave - I'm a little too junior to be thinking about the first, and the second is somewhat irrelevant. I know several trainees who are openly gay here, and there appears to be no problem at any level.

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  • They have started to try to run women's events but it does not seem that material progress is being made to make things easier for women to stay as fee-earners here.

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  • There are good diversity efforts, but I think that there is a difficulty that women tend to leave the firm earlier in their careers. There is a good mix at trainee level, which does not always filter through to promotion, but I am not sure that this is due to any fault with the firm. The firm is considering improving childcare provisions.

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  • Plenty of initiatives and the trainee intake is not nearly as homogenous as other people tend to think.

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  • They seem to make the best efforts possible and really recruit a diverse range of academically able trainees. Unfortunately, I do not think they can overcome what are societal defects in social mobility, but I give them an E for effort. There are some incredible female partners here - Nilufer Von Bismark, Elizabeth Barret and Ruth Fox, for instance.

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  • We have ethnic minority, parenting, religious and LGBT groups which hold regular events, and a dedicated Diversity Partner.

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  • My intake is pretty much the most diverse group of people I have ever seen. There is no recruitment discrimination. There are a very wide range of diversity groups and organisations within the firm. I don't know enough about retention, promotion, etc. To comment on such matters. However, I would note that the partnership is significantly less diverse than one might expect based on the trainees and associates...

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  • From the training induction, I can see that this is an issue that the firm is trying to improve upon. However, it is well known that a woman that wants to have a family and a degree of flexibility in working hours would not make partner here.

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  • Whilst the higher levels of the firm are less diverse, things are much more balanced at trainee and associate level.

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  • Less women partners than male, and last year both the partners made up were male. However, equal numbers of women and men are recruited and I have never felt disadvantaged as a woman. Ethnic minorities and LGBT have their own networks and groups which organise (often very successful) social events.

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  • The firm takes the diversity commitment seriously. The gender split from a recruitment perspective seems to be equal. There are many events held by the firm, like lunches, case study days and drinks, to attract applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds and to raise awareness. The firm's track record for promotion and retention relates to a person's ability and not their circumstances. That said, the firm's track record for diversity in all categories seems to be excellent.

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  • The firm continues to hire a lot of people from Oxbridge but disproportionate numbers apply from Oxbridge - we could do with more applications from elsewhere!

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  • There are no obvious gaps in terms of recruitment and I have not seen evidence of discrimination. Issues about particular minority groups are openly addressed and there are various interest groups in the firm which hold meetings, etc. which can be attended by anyone. There is a clear go-to person in the event that issues arise.

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  • The firm is making a big push with respect to women at the moment - however, the reality does not match up with the words. In fact it is virtually impossible to combine motherhood with this job - part time/flexible working is not permitted in most departments. Therefore, the number of women drops off considerable from around 2 years PQE.

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  • There are plenty of diversity initiatives and this is reflected in the make-up of the staff. The firm certainly is not full of Oxbridge-educated white males.

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2011 Reviews

  • Recruitment is very diverse and there is no obvious prejudice when it comes to retention or promotion. I have experienced no prejudice as a female in the working environment.

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  • One of the problems is that one tends to think of only those firms which make a hoo-ha about it as being diversity friendly. The trainee and associate population here is very diverse – ethnically, nationally and linguistically. There's a new LGBT group which organises awareness events and socials. I recently found out that two of the partners I deal with are gay and out. It's very reassuring and I don't know of anyone who has ever found it a problem – I certainly haven't. I think the real test is that it really doesn't matter who you are or where you're from or what you like. No one asks and no one judges. There's no pressure.

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  • There are ethnic minority, LGBT and parent groups which organise talks and provide information but the reality is that the fee earning side of the firm is not very diverse. The higher it gets in terms of the firm's structure, the less diverse it is.

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  • There is active diversity recruitment, diversity training during your trainee induction and an LGBT society that runs events, etc.

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  • The firm is striving to achieve a diverse workforce, and there is definitely a good representation of ethnic minorities in the firm.

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  • Lots of female associates and not so many partners, seems fairly typical of large firms.

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  • It's not the best, but I'm sure it's not the worst either. People are treated on their merits.

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  • It is not something that is shouted about (a formal LGBT/diversity committee was only recently established) but the firm is pretty evenly split gender-wise, and work is being done to redress the preponderance of male partners. The firm is very open to suggestions and will provide funds to ones that are approved.

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  • Pretty decent. Ranked No.1 for % of female partners. Seems to be a varied ethnic mix too. Not sure what the formal policy is though. Realistically though, if you are a woman and have a child before being a partner, it seems impossible to become a partner after that. No flexibility on working hours but to be honest, it's hard to see how that would work in a transactional law firm. Most associates don't come back after maternity leave or move into a non fee earning role. There seem to be a lot of good roles in compliance, training, international relations, etc. Which work well if you are a mother.

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2010 Reviews

  • The trainee and junior ranks seem to be about 50/50 split between men and women. The partnership is less diverse but there are quite a few women partners, 30% in my department.

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  • I think hiring and career progression is equal–bearing in mind the fact that more women choose to leave for family reasons. However, flexible working hours is very much in demand (for bringing up kids) and remains rare.

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  • I don't believe there is any negative bias affecting women on recruitment. However, although the firm has a very generous maternity provision, it is still difficult for women (who have decided to have families) to make it to the top, although not impossible.

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  • They do everything they can. The nature of the work means that a premium service simply cannot be provided without the associates and partners being on hand at all times of the day and week if necessary. Switching team members in and out to fit in with part-time or flexi-time associates/partners would not provide the same level of service to the client. This does not always fit in with family life and any lack of female representation in the partnership is simply a reflection of this.

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  • I don't think anyone cares much–if you're good, you're good

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  • We have a very clear equality and diversity policy, which the firm insists its employees adhere to and is committed to promoting.

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  • Intakes appear to be diverse–I have never known there to be problems once here. People are treated equally. Not sure that there is much promotion once hired, nor that there needs to be–all are given equal opportunities. There is flexibility around religious holidays and weekends.

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  • I have definitely noticed a marked improvement on this front, and so clearly the firm is working at addressing such issues.

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  • I’ve never known there to be any problem here–simply not an issue.

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