There is more to excellence than mere technical skills or academic success. Real excellence arises from diversity of thought, background, and experience. OwenReed is actively proud to be at the forefront of diversity in legal recruitment, UK-wide matching law firms with diverse legal talent, instrumental in innovation, diversity, and long-term success.
The UK’s legal community has made a great deal of progress, but a lot of hurdles remain for a lot of under-represented individuals. From socioeconomic background and ethnicity, to gender identity and neurodiversity, far too many professionals hit an invisible wall when it comes to hiring and progression.
Tearing down barriers to inclusive legal hiring is not just the right thing to do — it’s also about strategy. Research demonstrates that diverse teams make better decisions, earn more trust with clients and customers, and create a healthier workplace culture. For law firms seeking to succeed in a competitive and ever more interconnected world, embracing DEI is key.
Diversity is at the core of any truly innovative legal team. Diverse hiring benefits companies:
Leverage a broader talent base and fresh perspectives on challenging legal problems
Increasing retention by ensuring that everyone feels seen, heard, and valued
Enhance the reputation with clients that view corporate responsibility and social justice as essential values
Increase cognitive and experiential diversity in decision making and risk assessment
The aim of inclusive hiring isn’t just to change who gets hired, but to change the way people get hired.
At OwenReed, we believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) should be embedded in every stage of the recruitment process. Our mission is to make legal recruitment more equitable, transparent, and empowering for both clients and candidates.
We don’t just match skills with job specs. We source, screen, and support talent with an inclusive mindset, ensuring fair opportunities for:
Every candidate should have the same opportunity to succeed. Every law firm should have access to talent that looks like the world we live in.
We partner with law firms throughout the country to ensure inclusive hiring practices through every stage of the life cycle. Our DEI-led recruitment services are built to help you source, evaluate, and retain diverse talent securely and intentionally.
1. Diversity Job Description Audits
Job listings are frequently the first contact point with a candidate, and they can inadvertently turn away diverse candidates. We review your job descriptions for gender-biased or feminine-coded language that can deter underrepresented talent. Next, we transform your ads with inclusive, delightful, and bias-conscious copy that not just speaks your brand, but broadens your audience.
2. Blind CV Screening and Just Shortlisting
In the interest of reducing unconscious bias, we use blind CV screening, which means removing personal identifiers from the CV, including name, gender, age, education, etc. This guarantees that potential candidates are judged exclusively on talent, experience, and promise. We have baked into our shortlisting process criteria constructed to ensure that you focus on the competencies that matter for the role and NOT on who went to the best schools.
3. Sensitivity Training for Bias and Interview Process Consultation
We arm hiring teams with everything they need to host fair, equitable interviews. Our consultants work with your team to ensure consistency and objectivity at all stages, from creating structured interview guides to conducting unconscious bias workshops. That delivers a positive candidate experience and better hiring decisions.
4. Access to a Variety of Talent Pools
We are actively recruiting people from a variety of professions and educational and social backgrounds. Members of our community join with a variety of backgrounds, including lawyers from diverse ethnic backgrounds, women in legal support roles, LGBTI candidates, neurodiverse talent and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Instead of simply waiting to hear from a diverse range of candidates, we actively seek them out.
5. Collaborations with DEI Networks and Organisations
We partner with diversity-driven networks, affinity groups, schools, and advocacy organisations to engage with promising talent that usual hiring outlets could miss. They also give us the opportunity to tap into a much wider and more diverse candidate pool.
6. Custom Onboarding and Inclusion Training
It’s not enough to simply hire diverse talent. Finally, we work with companies to develop tactics for integrating and retaining diverse hires. This may be inclusive workplace practices, accessibility, having a strong mentor, and having a culture of safe feedback. When corporations embrace diversity from day one, retention and engagement are natural outgrowths.
Let’s Build a More Diverse Legal Profession — Together
If your firm is prepared to take a step toward meaningful, inclusive hiring, we are here to assist. Get in touch to find out how we promote varied legal recruitment in the UK.
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