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05 May 2023
Issue: 8023 / Categories: Legal News , Diversity , Profession , Career focus
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NLJ this week: Obstacles hampering progress for talented lawyers

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Senior litigation lawyer Pauline Campbell, writing in this week’s NLJ, sets out some of her personal experience of diversity and access after 17 years in the legal profession. 

Law firms say they want to attract talented candidates, and are taking action on diversity and social mobility, yet progress is slow. Why? Are perceptions standing in the way of progress? What must change?

Campbell, now an award-winning solicitor at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, encountered a series of obstacles en route. She notes law firms are continuing to miss out ‘on talent and profit’ by not taking on graduates from non-professional family backgrounds who attended state schools.

As Campbell writes, ‘barriers are not limited to mere practices and procedures, and also encompass the perceptions of those who work within a profession’. 

Read more from Campbell on talent and progression here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Charles Russell Speechlys—James Paterson

Charles Russell Speechlys—James Paterson

Charles Russell Speechlys further bolsters Private Equity expertise with the appointment of James Paterson

Ellisons—Samuel Flower

Ellisons—Samuel Flower

Ellisons strengthens Rural Affairs team with senior appointment

Sidley—Carl Hotton

Sidley—Carl Hotton

Sidley adds insurance mergers and acquisitions partner to London office

NEWS
A deputy costs judge correctly exercised his discretion to allow late service rather than strike out the point of dispute, the Court of Appeal has held
Prince Harry, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and five others have lost their case against the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, in Various Claimants v Associated Newspapers [2026] EWHC 1637 (KB)
Public confidence in the justice system is being undermined by a lack of accessible, useable data, magistrates have warned
The Sentencing Council has launched draft guidelines for facilitation and endangering another person during a sea crossing to the UK
Government proposals to make independent written legal advice a prerequisite for workplace non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) may prove unworkable, according to a senior employment lawyer
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