2020 winner
A&L Goodbody
The winning firm introduced a series of initiatives designed to ensure that female talent had an equal opportunity to thrive and progress. The judges were impressed by the holistic approach to the Gender Diversity initiative, which started with extensive research to understand what the key issues were. This included focus groups with key stakeholders across the whole business. Once the initiative was articulated it was led by the leaders of the firm, including the Managing Partner, Chair and other partners, who all took a lead on a work stream and who have endorsed the initiative from the outset. Critically this initiative has already started to demonstrate tangible results. Whilst the ultimate measurable goals of success, ie. a more gender diverse partnership, will take much longer to achieve, the firm has already seen demonstrable progress in the ambition expressed by its female lawyers and female lawyer attrition has already improved by 12 percentage points in 2019.
Danny Wallace, Aisling Mooney Eddy & Sarah Murphy (A&L Goodbody) and Charlotte Wilkinson Prior (The Sutton Trust)
2nd place
Dentons
The Big Inclusion project by Dentons was impressive on many levels, not least on account of its scale and ambition. This initiative took in 22 teams across 68 offices and 10 regions, many of whom were working together for the first time due to the diverse nature of the teams, which included people at all levels of seniority and across all functions. The project gained endorsement and sponsorship from the top of the business, with each team supported by a global board member. Critically this project focused on delivering meaningful impact and action as well as an ‘inclusion index’ which tracks progress internally and holds the firm accountable on inclusion, which is a key focus of the leadership team. The significant engagement in this initiative bodes well for the future.
2020 SPONSOR
OTHER SHORTLISTED FIRMS
Arthur Cox
Eversheds Sutherland
Hogan Lovells (Paris)
