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BigLaw combines to address cultural diversity
Top-tier firms Herbert Smith Freehills, Clayton Utz and King & Wood Mallesons recently banded together for a panel discussion, featuring their senior leaders, on improving cultural diversity in the workplace.
Jerome Doraisamy
The panel discussion, which was hosted by ABC journalist Kumi Taguchi, saw the panelists – former race discrimination commissioner Dr Tim Soutphommasane, HSF managing partner Andrew Pike, Clayton Utz chief executive partner Rob Cutler and KWM chief executive partner Berkeley Cox – speak about their own personal experiences around diversity in the workplace, why a lack of diversity exists in the profession, and the structural challenges that need to be addressed to improve the situation.
The future legal workforce will, however, look very different in 20 years’ time, Mr Pike proclaimed.
“To force a change, we need to embed structural changes into recruitment, career development and leadership programs to ensure diversity is present and will continue to flourish in our industry,” he said.
Mr Cutler supported this: “We are definitely seeing positive change and that will continue. There is a strong and authentic desire to see more diversity across the legal profession.”
And on the topic of how change can be effected, Mr Cox posited that “It is incumbent upon us given our roles to improve equality for our people now and in the future.”
The session was hosted as part of the inaugural Cultural Diversity and Leadership Fellowship, run by the Australian Human Rights Commission and the University Sydney Business School, which intends to specifically address the lack of cultural diversity in senior leadership of Australian organisations.
The three firms that participated in the session are also involved in the Managing Partners Diversity Forum, which consists of 11 firms in total that made a commitment in 2017 to work together to improve cultural diversity in the profession.
“As part of this initiative, the firms have conducted research into the diversity of their organisations, and the resulting data will be used to develop practical steps to tackle the issue,” the firms noted in a statement.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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