Legal Cheek’s Post

Is this the end of free associations? Should the WI now also come to an end? Most of the professions men are not in a gender exclusive club and we still (allegedly) have a gender discrimination problem. How long will our Chinese style cultural revolution continue? #culture #culturalheritage #societyandculture #politics #gentleman #genderequality #lawyers #lawyerlife #lawfirm #law #legaladvice #diversityintheworkplace #solicitor #solicitors #legalprofession #discrimination #discriminación #diversityandinclusion #garrickclub #london #wi #women #womenempowerment #womeninlaw #womeninpolitics #bullying #womensrights #woke #wokery #freedomofspeech #civilliberties #ruleoflaw #liberty https://lnkd.in/ev4SRqF4

The Bar Standards Board has launched a consultation on new rules to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the Bar. "Core Duty 8", in particular, would impose a "positive duty" on barristers to "act in a way that advances EDI". Since no definition of these terms has yet been offered, a number of free speech concerns arise. On what basis will barristers be considered to be doing enough to "advance" EDI? Will any ambiguity create the scope for unjustified allegations of misconduct — for instance, if a barrister speaks at a conference and upsets someone with their views on the law and potential reform(s) of equality provisions, could that be construed as a breach of Core Duty 8? What about representing clients whose views don't align with the BSB's construal? And what latitude will individuals chambers that sign-up to, say, Stonewall's Diversity Champions Scheme, have to operationalise this positive duty in their own, idiosyncratic ways, potentially to the detriment of employees who hold and express perfectly lawful 'gender critical' beliefs? The FSU's legal team is currently reviewing the document and assessing next steps — you can find the consultation document below. https://lnkd.in/e2zHZ4mg

Know Thy Judge | Supreme Court of India: Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha Reported by Sucheta Sarkar Read More Here- https://lnkd.in/gy5-mysG #PSNarasimha #ayodhyadispute #CinemaHalls #Deathsentence #immunityforMPMLA #LGBTQ #marriageequality #samesexmarriage #SupremeCourtofIndia #scconline #SCC #legalnews #legalknowledge #scctimes #legalblog #legalupdates #lawstudent #legalresearch #legalstudies #surestwaytolegalresearch #bringingyouthebestlegalnews

SHOULD BARRISTERS ADOPT A POSITIVE DUTY TO PROMOTE EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION? Monday 4th November 2024 Council Chamber, 113 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A IPL (the home of the Law Society). Doors open 7.00pm, panel event starts at 7.30pm, ends 9.00pm. Followed by wine reception. TO ATTEND, PLEASE REGISTER HERE: https://lnkd.in/dJ4GTJ_c The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has launched a public consultation on new rules to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the Bar. If adopted, barristers would be obliged to ‘act in a way that advances equality, diversity, and inclusion’ when providing legal services and the BSB would assume what it describes as an ‘outcomes focused’ approach to equality. On Monday 4th November, the Free Speech Union will host a panel of eminent legal experts to grapple with the merits of the Bar Standards Board's proposals. While ‘equality’, ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ appear to be concepts worthy of general support, there is still much to debate about what they mean and whether ‘EDI’ is an appropriate framework for the governance of institutions and professions. Concerned barristers have asked us to hold the event to discuss the consequences of changing the core duty that they ‘should not unlawfully discriminate’ to a positive duty to advance a set of values that are highly contested. When similar EDI initiatives have been considered elsewhere, they have been challenged on the grounds that they risk introducing compelled speech and thought. Our speakers are: Lord Ken Macdonald KC Akua Reindorf, KC Lisa D.S. Bildy, JD, BA CHAIR: Bryn Harris The Free Speech Union is a non-partisan, mass-membership public interest body that stands up for the speech rights of its members. You can find out more about us here. The Free Speech Union www.freespeechunion.org

Excellent initiative of the ICC to broaden the scope of diversity in the international arbitration community! In 2021, the ICC received the Global Arbitration Review Award for Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge for the launch of an ICC Task Force on Disability Inclusion and International Arbitration and for establishing the LGBTQIA+ network. ICC Arbitration Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer #internationalarbitration #investmentarbitration #diversityandinclusion Arbitration Pledge #lgbtq

Bar regulator (Bar Standards Board-BSB) to impose new diversity and inclusion duty on barristers provide legal services. The consultation document also sets out proposed new Equality Rules focused on ‘specific outcomes’ and requirements to achieve them. - #LawSocietyGazette You can read more below 👇🏾 #BSB #BarStandardsBoard #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion

This is just incredibly disappointing. How can we expect the legal profession to make genuine progress on improving equality of opportunity (both for brilliant female lawyers and those from non-privileged social backgrounds) if many of our top judges and lawyers are members of a club that allows them to network and socialise exclusively with a small sub-set of other men in powerful positions? It is incumbent on solicitors, barristers and judges to act in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion. This is the very opposite. https://lnkd.in/ehw2ufRT

I deserve every freakin’ award I’ve ever received for my legal accomplishments. I’m proud to say that when I was a Biglaw partner, I was among the (less than) 1% of Black women partners in major, top ranking law firms in the nation. But I didn't get there without working twice as hard as my white male counterparts and being paid a fraction of what they made. I'm incredibly grateful to have my own successful legal consulting firm now with a mission to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. Pay equity for women and people of color is important to us. We work with agencies and institutions nationwide to level the playing field for their employees and vendors, provide everyone an equal opportunity to advance or receive benefits, and to pay them equitably for their services. But the legal industry still has a long way to go. Recent reports show that nothing has significantly changed. The percentage of diverse lawyers has grown only 10% over the past 10 years. Lawyers of color now make up 21% of the legal profession, almost double the number of diverse attorneys in 2013. However, the number of Black lawyers remains stagnant, comprising only 5% of the profession in 2023. And, diversity among law firm partners has been excruciatingly slow and terribly disappointing. People of color now make up 12% of partners and women account for almost 28%, compared to just over 2% of partners being lawyers of color and almost 11% being women in 1991. We can do better, and our clients should demand that we do so. Until they do, not much will change. As stewards of social justice, the legal industry should be leading the way for others to follow. Let's work together to keep pushing for progress in diversity and inclusion not only in the legal industry, but throughout our nation.🇺🇸 #diversity #equity #inclusion #diversityequityinclusion #payequity #legalindustry #lawyers #womenlawyers #blacklawyers #lawyersoflinkedin #lawfirms #legalconsultants #progress #diversityintheworkplace #socialjustice

Last week, NALP published its 2023 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms. It's wild, because I sit in anecdotal data all day that is consistent with the findings, and still find a lot of it surprising (not in a good way). + Women are still only 27.76% of partners, and only 23.7% of equity partners. The non-equity tier is more diverse, but that is cold comfort. + Just under 5% of partners are women of color. + The percentage of summer associates of color FELL in 2023. + Lawyers with disabilities represent just under 2% of lawyers. + 2.57% of partners identify as LGBTQ+. + 6.15% of associates were Black. + San Francisco has the highest proportion of women associates. Incremental change isn't enough. We are watching paint dry over here.

Learn about legal trailblazers as we celebrate Pride Month!