For the third consecutive year, Lewis Silkin has improved its ranking in the Social Mobility Employer Index, rising to 18th place - up from 34th last year and 59th the year before. The firm now falls within the top ten law firms in the Index.
The Index was created by the Social Mobility Foundation in 2017 and ranks UK employers according to what they are doing to change how they find, recruit, and advance talented employees from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Employers are assessed across seven key areas:
- Work with young people
- Routes into the employer
- Attraction
- Recruitment and selection
- Data collection
- Progression, culture and experienced hires
- Advocacy
Richard Miskella, Joint Managing Partner, said:
"Everyone should have the same life chances, regardless of their socioeconomic background, and improving social mobility is a core element of our commitment to Responsible Business and DE&I at Lewis Silkin. Many people in the firm are actively involved in this area – for example, about 15% of colleagues are either already mentoring young people or are about to start doing so.
Our cold spot outreach presentations and school mentoring initiatives support students in areas of low social mobility across the UK, while our solicitor apprentice scheme is helping open up the opportunity to practice law to all. Our improved ranking in this year's Index is illustrative of the importance we attach to these efforts, and I'm very proud of the rapid progress we are making."
This year 149 employers entered the Index. In addition to the employer responses, over 11,600 employees also took part in a voluntary employee survey, which adds qualitative insights and contextualises the data provided by employers.