Browne Jacobson wins Social Mobility Initiative award at Legal 500 ESG Awards

UK & Ireland law firm Browne Jacobson wins the Best Social Mobility Initiative to Attract and Retain Talent (Outside London) award at the Legal 500 ESG Awards.

The inaugural Legal 500 UK ESG Awards celebrate the very best ESG initiatives across the UK legal market, with organisations and individuals recognised for their efforts to bring about change across all aspects of ESG; including diversity, equity & inclusion and environmental and sustainability strategy.

The firm has been recognised for its landmark social mobility programme to increase diversity and inclusion across the firm.

The firm’s flagship socio-economic diversity programme is called FAIRE (Fairer Access into Real Experience), which provides paid, structured work experience opportunities for individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Many of the FAIRE students also have the opportunity to experience life ‘in-house’ due to the firms growing number of reciprocal work experience arrangements with key clients. The annual FAIRE events have now increased the career prospects of over 30,500 students from more than 2,100 schools. The firm’s virtual insight events have become some of the UK's legal professions farthest reaching online career events, with participation numbers for each event averaging 4000 attendees.

Earlier this year and following a two-year pilot, Browne Jacobson launched REACH (Race, Equality and Cultural Heritage), a dedicated mentoring programme aimed at kick-starting the careers of aspiring black lawyers across the country to grow, nurture, and create a sustainable pipeline of future black talent. 

Ranked second in the Social Mobility Foundation’s Employer Index 2023 following two consecutive years of a first place ranking, Browne Jacobson has established a nationwide reputation for its steadfast commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion within the legal profession. Since 2016, the firm has introduced various initiatives to transform its trainee recruitment processes. These changes include eliminating academic barriers, anonymising applications, and directing outreach efforts toward areas with limited social mobility opportunities.

Caroline Green, Senior Partner at Browne Jacobson, said:

“We are extremely proud to be recognised as a leader in the legal market in promoting social mobility. Our FAIRE programme has had a significant impact on our business, our clients, our teams, and the exceptional talent we attract and develop. 

The legal profession still lacks representation from individuals from lower socio-economic and minority backgrounds – and we are delighted to play our part in transforming the way law firms recruit future talent and foster an inclusive culture with our FAIRE and REACH programmes.”