Law firm Browne Jacobson has won the Innovation award at the annual UK Social Mobility Awards 2021 for its social mobility programme to increase diverse representation in the legal sector.
The awards recognise businesses that demonstrate innovative ways of advancing social mobility at work. The law firm was named in the Innovation category for its FAIRE (Fairer Access into Real Experience) initiative, devised by Browne Jacobson’s recruitment manager, Tom Lyas.
The programme aims to support social mobility by offering students from lower socio-economic and minority backgrounds equal access to work experience to help them build a career in the legal sector.
The programme launched earlier this year with the ‘FAIRE: virtual work experience and legal career insights event in partnership with Young Professionals’. The two-day event gained significant engagement. Over 7,000 attendees joined on day one, and over 10,000 participants signed up across the UK, making it one of the country’s biggest virtual work experience and legal career insights events.
Last year, Browne Jacobson ranked fifth in the Social Mobility Employer Index 2020 alongside some of the country’s leading employers in the Social Mobility Foundation.
Lyas said: “We are incredibly passionate about creating and delivering genuinely innovative solutions that help aspiring legal professionals from underrepresented communities get equal career opportunities.
“Our firm is such a strong advocate and driver of social mobility and committed to creating a truly diverse and inclusive environment that people from all backgrounds want to be part of, and our clients want to partner with.
“We know people from lower socio-economic and minority backgrounds are still hugely underrepresented within the legal profession, and we know we want and need to be part of that change, so I am delighted our work around FAIRE and championing social mobility has been recognised. We will continue to ensure societal issues like social mobility become ingrained into Browne Jacobson’s DNA.”
To find out about the UK Social Mobility Awards, click here. To find out about Browne Jacobson’s ‘FAIRE virtual legal careers event’ taking place on Wednesday 27 October 2021, click here.
