Stephenson Harwood

Our vision is to be known as an inclusive and diverse firm, where all our people feel they can be themselves and thrive at work. Our people are our biggest asset. We want Stephenson Harwood to be a place where colleagues can do their best work in a team that values the unique contributions that they bring.

Our Belonging, Inclusion and Diversity strategy focuses on culture, leadership, talent management and recruitment. We partner with a range of organisations to help us to create the diverse and inclusive workplace that we strive to be. Partners include Stonewall, The Business Disability Forum, The Valuable 500, Aspiring Solicitors and Rare Recruitment.

Access to the profession

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion starts with young people, often long before they would come to work for us.

We have a longstanding partnership with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to provide access to opportunity for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We are founding members of Aspiring Solicitors Foundation, an organisation focused on removing financial hardship for students to support them in pursuing a career in law.

Our new scholarship programme, open to disadvantaged students, offers £15,000 to cover the costs of university fees and contribute to living expenses. Recipients will receive a range of support, including a mentor from the firm, invitations to insight days and work experience, and they’ll be guaranteed a place at an assessment centre for a training contract.

We work hard to reach diverse candidates, providing the support they need to apply for roles at the firm. We partner with a number of organisations to attract diverse candidates. We use the Rare contextual recruitment system as part of our graduate selection process. The tool contextualises the academic performance of applicants, helping us to identify ‘stand-out’ candidates, regardless of background.

Fostering inclusion

We know we need to foster an inclusive culture, where all our people can be themselves and thrive at work. It’s about equality and opportunity, making sure that talented people can thrive and progress at Stephenson Harwood. All of our associates have a dedicated development partner, who has responsibility for supporting their development and career progression. We are focused on fair work allocation for all – we currently have structured work allocation pilots in two practice groups, with a view to extending this programme across our business.

Our six D&I networks create a sense of belonging by celebrating diversity and connecting people across the business and working with the wider community.

Our Female Career Progression Programme (FCPP) supports associates to navigate their career and strengthen their networks in the firm and with our clients. We already know that our women are talented; the FCPP focuses on giving them the tools, resources and networks to progress their career.

We know that developing inclusive leaders, who build meaningful relationships with their teams, brings a real competitive advantage. We have run inclusive leadership training for our partners globally. The value that we place on inclusion extends to how we reward our partners, as we now include accountability for living our values in partner performance reviews.