With October being Black History Month, Rosenblatt’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee was delighted to host Vice President of the Law Society I. Stephanie Boyce for a Q&A session with our employment partner Michelle Chance, in which she discussed a variety of diversity issues facing the legal profession.
Stephanie will become the first Black, the first ethnic minority President of the Law Society in its almost 200 year history in 2021, which is a ground breaking achievement , but frankly about time and sad that it has taken us so long to get to this point, as lawyers who are at the forefront of representing clients in relation to discrimination and equality and upholding principles of justice and fair treatment for all. Stephanie offered her views on how the profession should address recruitment and workplace challenges in respect of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, solicitors.
Stephanie described her journey into the law as non-conventional. She is truly inspirational and a role model for resilience, determination, following your passion and dreams and not giving up or taking no for an answer. Something we can all learn from.
“Not having access to professional networks disproportionately accessed by those more advantaged than me, had the effect of me not being able to capitalise on work experience, mentors and sponsors from those networks”, she said. “The challenge was not knowing a solicitor, not having readily accessible information and being told at a young age that the law wasn’t a place for me. I felt so many opportunities were not open to me, but I kept pushing. It has not held me back.”
Sadly this lack of having a foot in the door initially, or even realising that law could be a viable career choice is still an issue for many members of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, which needs to be addressed. Thankfully Stephanie is committed to wanting “to leave the legal profession more diverse and inclusive than when I entered it”.
Stephanie is committed to breaking down barriers around what a lawyer should look and sound like. “We must increase legal literacy amongst individuals and let them know that law is somewhere that anyone can come to if they have the aptitude or ability to succeed. I am proof that it is not the case that ‘law isn’t for you’.
According to Stephanie, “Teaching law in schools is key. Far too often we leave it too late; I didn’t readily know what the map was to do the things I needed to do to embark upon a legal career.”
Improving social mobility is a cause which is key to Stephanie’s heart – to allow people to think about a career in law at an early age, and access to justice are two elements that Stephanie sees as crucial in the education process. “Legal rights mean absolutely nothing if you don’t know when they are being taken away from you or how to enforce them.”
When asked about whether all non-white people should be lumped together as one under the BAME acronym, as people have different experiences & face different issues, Stephanie explained that she believes that the term ‘BAME’ is unhelpful , as it seeks to group all ethnic minorities together, instead committing to using its full wording: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. She said, “The broadness of the term presents challenges. More needs to be done to recognise people’s distinct experiences.” This is reflected in recent statistics on those entering the profession. Last year, 17.3% of training contract holders who provided their ethnicity identified as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. Of those, 10.1% were Asian, but just 0.8 % were Black Caribbean and 1.8% Black African.
We discussed with Stephanie the political and racial unrest in the US this year and the Black Lives Matter movement. We asked her whether this is something we should be talking about in the workplace and if so, who should instigate the conversation? How do people have difficult conversations about race issues in the workplace? Stephanie noted how the Black Lives Matter movement had prompted City firms to request support around diversity issues in the workplace in respect of listening and learning, recruitment practices and approaches to related initiatives. More generally, she suggests that firms look at how their diversity and inclusion policies are being implemented in practice, rather than merely being a tick box exercise, with senior managers being key to these discussions.
“It is a business and moral imperative that we have diversity across the board and workplace culture from the top, should champion this. Firms must be willing to embed this in all they do and their policies should be visible and reflective of that intention. This shouldn’t be left up to certain individuals. The legal workplace should be an environment where we all feel we can bring our true selves to work and the conversation must continue if we are to see change.”
Being authentic is key to creating a truly inclusive culture. We discussed with Stephanie whether she thought that there is less overt bias and direct racism now, which was potentially easier to recognise and call out and more unconscious bias and passive micro-aggressions that Black Asian and Minority Ethnic staff face. We asked her how that should be dealt with? While overt racism may be easier to call out than in the past, it still exists and race issues are still prevalent. “There is no room for ignorance or unconscious bias that leads to discrimination or unfair treatment”, she said, referring to the incident of the black barrister being mistaken for a defendant which recently made headlines. “There is something inherently wrong when you look at someone and see nothing else but their colour”.
Despite her rise to the top of her profession, Stephanie explained that she had faced bias from those of her own gender and race along the way, having attempted four times to secure the office she currently holds. “People told me that never in our lifetime will we see an ethnic minority person become president of the Law Society. The question is whether or not we recognise bias and choose to allow that to keep us from achieving our true potential. I wasn’t willing to accept no for an answer.” We are very glad that Stephanie never gave up on her ambitions.
We also touched on the Law Society’s stance on targets and quotas, as it’s well known that objectives are not achieved without targets having been set for them, but at the same time lawyers are proud and want their achievements to be based on merit, rather than mere tokenism to meet quotas. Stephanie explained that the Law Society does not favour quotas to tackle racial diversity, believing that it implies the favouring of a group based solely on protected characteristics; classed as positive discrimination. The Law Society instead advocates the use of target setting, which will allow organisations to objectively justify the use of initiatives such as training to address diversity and inclusion matters.
The need to address race and gender issues within the legal profession should be on everyone’s personal agenda for Stephanie. “We need to ensure talented individuals can enter and progress whatever their background. The Law Society recognises that diversity is an important asset, and that is rooted in everything we do.”
There was a fear when Covid 19 struck that diversity and inclusion would fall to the bottom of many Board’s agendas and would not be seen as a priority, as many firms have had to make financial and job cuts and some are struggling to survive. Sadly, Covid 19 has disproportionately affected members of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. However, Covid has also served to bring out the best in humanity and has played to our communal spirit. Those law firms who take their corporate social responsibilities seriously and have a diverse and inclusive culture have continued to push forward with their diversity and inclusion agendas, which is more important than ever in these challenging and uncertain times. Stephanie was heartened to see that despite these fears and struggles, the Covid-19 pandemic has not put discussions on race and equality on the backburner and they are seen as equally, if not more important than ever. “It is great to see the discussion is still alive, and people are willing to be part of that discussion.”
Despite the ongoing drive for a more inclusive profession, Stephanie is concerned about the impact the pandemic may have on those from minority and low socio-economic backgrounds seeking to embark on and progress with a legal career. “We should be cautious to readily adopt virtual remote working. There is nothing better than being able to interact with colleagues face to face,” she said.
Whilst it is important for networking and for junior colleagues to learn from and be mentored and championed by their more senior colleagues, we will need to get the balance right between supporting junior colleagues at the outset of their careers and building upon the greater flexibility and work/life integration that many of us have managed to achieve during the pandemic, which has greatly benefitted working parents and those with caring responsibilities. It may in fact lead to more women of child bearing age remaining in the profession, rather than the brain drain of senior associate level female colleagues we have sadly become accustomed to seeing. It would be great if this led to the retention of greater numbers of senior associate level Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic lawyers, as well as white lawyers.
Asked for some advice for budding Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic lawyers, Stephanie’s response reflected what had led her to where she is today. “Be certain and confident about what you want. Every door is open if you push hard enough. Keep going. PUSH Persevere Until Something Happens.”
Some great feedback we had from Stephanie’s session was how refreshing it was to hear a Black woman owning and being proud of her achievements. This is something that everyone in the workplace can learn from.
Stephanie’s positivity will continue to strengthen our drive to strive for a truly diverse and inclusive workplace, in which a welcoming door is not only open to diverse candidates from any socio-economic background, but where good people can thrive at every stage of their career, because work allocation, appraisals and promotions are conducted fairly across the board and senior people are willing to not only mentor but also champion and drive them forward. This is so important if we are going to stop talented Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic lawyers from leaving the profession in much higher numbers than their white counterparts.
