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NLJ this week: Obstacles hampering progress for talented lawyers

05 May 2023
Issue: 8023 / Categories: Legal News , Diversity , Profession , Career focus
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Senior litigation lawyer Pauline Campbell, writing in this week’s NLJ, sets out some of her personal experience of diversity and access after 17 years in the legal profession. 

Law firms say they want to attract talented candidates, and are taking action on diversity and social mobility, yet progress is slow. Why? Are perceptions standing in the way of progress? What must change?

Campbell, now an award-winning solicitor at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, encountered a series of obstacles en route. She notes law firms are continuing to miss out ‘on talent and profit’ by not taking on graduates from non-professional family backgrounds who attended state schools.

As Campbell writes, ‘barriers are not limited to mere practices and procedures, and also encompass the perceptions of those who work within a profession’. 

Read more from Campbell on talent and progression here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Gilson Gray—Linda Pope

Partner joins family law team inLondon

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Jackson Lees Group—five promotions

Private client division announces five new partners

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Taylor Wessing—Max Millington

Banking and finance team welcomes partner in London

NEWS
The landmark Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd—along with Rukhadze v Recovery Partners—redefine fiduciary duties in commercial fraud. Writing in NLJ this week, Mary Young of Kingsley Napley analyses the implications of the rulings
Barristers Ben Keith of 5 St Andrew’s Hill and Rhys Davies of Temple Garden Chambers use the arrest of Simon Leviev—the so-called Tinder Swindler—to explore the realities of Interpol red notices, in this week's NLJ
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] has upended assumptions about who may conduct litigation, warn Kevin Latham and Fraser Barnstaple of Kings Chambers in this week's NLJ. But is it as catastrophic as first feared?
Lord Sales has been appointed to become the Deputy President of the Supreme Court after Lord Hodge retires at the end of the year
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are reportedly in the firing line in Chancellor Rachel Reeves upcoming Autumn budget
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