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Diversity: Regulating for change

14 October 2022 / Simon Blandy
Issue: 7998 / Categories: Features , Profession , Regulatory , Diversity
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Simon Blandy discusses the role of the regulator in increasing diversity & inclusion in the legal profession
  • Legal regulators have an important role in improving diversity and inclusion in the profession and ensuring the legal sector reflects more closely the communities it serves.
  • Current initiatives include increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of data collection, constructive engagement and support to ensure the routes to law are open to all, and collaboration—with partners from within and beyond the legal profession.

The Legal Services Board (LSB) concluded in its ‘State of Legal Services 2020’ report that, even though there had been some improvements, overall progress in improving diversity and inclusion within the legal services sector had been slow.

A number of different initiatives and approaches have been employed across the legal sector in an attempt to improve diversity and inclusion. Law firms of course are often held up to scrutiny, more so recently, to ensure their workforce is diverse and accurately represents the client base the profession serves.

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NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
County court cases are speeding up, with the median time from claim to hearing 62 weeks for fast, intermediate and multi-track claims—5.4 weeks faster than last year
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured £1.1m in its first use of an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO)

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