56 How do you feel law firms are generally today on this topic? Roy: I think we have come a long way, and I encourage the industry to keep the courage of its convictions. I have been cautiously optimistic/pleased this Pride month (so far) as I feared firms might walk back visible messaging in light of the cultural pushback that we saw last year that caused some consumer facing companies to walk back their visible advocacy efforts. It feels as though the industry has in fact, stayed the course, on the balance, and I would encourage those midsized and smaller firms that might still be on the fence about making visible declarations of inclusion to realize the world is evolving, clients are evolving, talent is evolving, and the future will be an inclusive one. Not an exclusive one. Lee: I do think law firms are on the right side of the argument and seek to push forward change, just as Big Tech and professional services firms, writ large, seek to do. What I see now is that diversity initiatives have moved beyond their early goals of encouraging greater female participation in the senior ranks and inclusivity for LGBTQ+ colleagues to be representative of the societies we are operating in. That includes widening what D, E & I goals should be in order to encompass greater participation for differently abled colleagues and ensuring we take full benefit of those members of staff on or past retirement age. I am proud that I was one of the first in my firm to have a trainee who was partially sighted (and who today is an impressive associate in our projects team). Social mobility is also top of mind. All of these initiatives will assist in bringing the full potential of society, including from the LGBT community, into the workforce. Jeremy: Larger law firms tend to be generally open to providing diverse and inclusive workplaces, but like with all other industries, there is unfortunately often a gap between intent and reality. Whilst DEI efforts are more well established in large legal markets such as NY and London, in Israel this receives much less focus. In fact, lawyers – given their access to, and trust from, a wide range of companies (and in particular, senior decision makers therein), have a rare opportunity to influence diversity and inclusion well beyond their own workspaces. Through initiatives such as @LGBTech’s ‘EqualLGBTQ+ Index’, by taking on important cases in the fight for equality, and by incorporating advice on governance and compliance -including on ways to improve on these beyond strict legal requirements - lawyers have a lot of power to improve LGBTQ+ DEI.
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