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07 December 2022
Categories: Legal News , Profession , Diversity , Equality
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Diversity Taskforce: smashing the class ceiling

50% of senior leaders in the financial and professional services sector should come from a non-professional background by 2030, the City of London’s Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce has urged in its final report.

Welcoming the report, published last week, Lubna Shuja, president of the Law Society, said: ‘Where you start in life should not determine where you end up.’

The Taskforce has set out a five-point pathway to boost social mobility: assigning accountability to senior leaders; collecting data on employee backgrounds within the next two years; taking action to increase diversity at senior levels and monitoring what works; setting goals; and publishing data.

Shuja said: ‘The legal sector is leading on diversity data collection, including socio-economic background, as this is mandatory for law firms.

‘We know there is already great work underway to remove barriers to entry and progression for solicitors from non-professional backgrounds. Our focus will be on supporting firms to set their own goals for success and publishing their data in the coming years.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Firm welcomes partner with specialist expertise in family and art law

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Dual-qualified partner joins international private client team

NEWS
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law
A seemingly dry procedural update may prove potent. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold explains that new CPR 31.12A—part of the 193rd update—fills a ‘lacuna’ exposed in McLaren Indy v Alpa Racing
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