Harper Macleod LLP

Diversity Statement

We embrace all aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion and we fully meet our gender balance and equal pay requirements. In support of this, 64% of our workforce is female and 55% of our lawyers are female. We have an Equality, Diversity & Focus Group which meets regularly and one of our colleagues co-chairs the committee of Women in Law Scotland, which is a networking organisation designed to promote gender equality in the Scottish legal profession. It also creates a valuable forum for sharing best practice and ideas. As a firm, we provide annual Diversity & Inclusion training to colleagues. We publish our Gender Pay Gap Report annually on our website.

We are:

• An accredited Scottish Living Wage Employer;
• An Investors in People employer with Gold status;
• An Investors in Young People employer with Gold status;
• A Working Families Employer; and
• Committed to the Scottish Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee

We promote equality of opportunity and develop a diverse workforce which reflects the population of Scotland. For example, through our firm’s support for the creation and development of the Scottish Ethnic Minorities Lawyers Association (SEMLA). One of our Partners, Omar Ali, is on the steering group of SEMLA, which tackles the under-representation of ethnic minority lawyers in aspects of the Scottish legal profession and hosted a special virtual session at the very first ‘Celebrating Inclusion Event and Law Fair’ in October 2020. In 2023, Omar received the Achievement in Law award at the Scottish Asian Business Awards 2023.

We are signatories to the Faculty of Advocates’ Fair Instruction Policy which ensures that Advocates are instructed based on their skills, experience and ability and without discrimination on grounds of age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief or sexual orientation.

Our firm is fully committed to the development of Scotland's young workforce and since 2017 we have employed more than 56 modern apprentices across our offices. 76% of our modern apprentices remain with us on a permanent position and have been further developed, equating to around 13% of our workforce. We are proud signatories to the Scottish Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee and are committed to providing the best opportunities we can for young people. We won SME Employer of the Year at the QA Scottish Apprenticeship Awards in 2023.

We recruit many people from socially disadvantaged diverse areas through our modern apprenticeship program offering opportunity for employment and the opportunity to develop skills and to have resultant career development in business functions. We use blind applications for trainee recruitment.

We signed up to the Social Mobility Pledge in 2015, and we are committed to creating opportunities that help people improve their lives and reach their full potential. We regularly work with organisations such as Career Ready, MCR Pathways and the Robertson Trust in addition to partnering with a wide range of schools in both low income and affluent areas to identify and publicise opportunities to help young people. We hold regular school and virtual events through our Work Experience programme, which takes place in February, June and November, providing virtual work experience for S5 and S6 pupils from secondary schools across Scotland.

Our commitment to equality and diversity is evidenced through our awards. We won ESG Firm of the Year at The Legal 500 Scotland Awards 2023 and at the QA Scotland Apprenticeship Awards (SSA) 2024 our Support Services Manager won Mentor of the Year Award while the firm was named SME Employer of the Year. At the QA SAA in 2021, the firm won the Promoting Diversity – Large Employer of the Year Award.