Horizons: Social mobility in action

Lorraine Reader, Partner and Horizons Co-Sponsor: So today you're going to hear more about our new social mobility people Network Horizons.

Horizons is here to provide a safe space for colleagues from less advantaged backgrounds to feel supported and empowered to make their voice heard, and for allies to listen without prejudice so that we can build understanding and reduce socio-economic inequality.

Lorraine Reader: Some of you may be wondering what social mobility is and why it's important to DLA Piper. Put simply, where you start in life shouldn't determine where you end up, but for many people it still does.

Talented lawyers can be found everywhere, but opportunities for them to reach their potential are in short supply. 

Right now, there is a significant difference in the background of lawyers compared to the UK population:

• 17% of workers in the legal sector are from a working class or lower socio-economic background compared to 39% of the workforce in England and Wales.
• Also, data from the SRA tells us that 23% of solicitors attended a fee paying school compared to only 7% nationally.

There is a strong business case for having a diverse workforce that is socially mobile.

Colleagues from lower socio-economic backgrounds have outperformed their context, and we want them to thrive high and aim high at DLA Piper.

Lorraine Reader: As the colleagues joining us today will each be sharing a little bit about their backgrounds with you, I wanted to share why social mobility is important for me as well.

I'm proud to come from a working class background.

Both of my parents are Irish working class and I was the first in my family to do A levels and to attend university.

This is an important part of who I am, and is one of the reasons I'm here today as a co-sponsor of Horizons.

Jake Manton, Associate, Corporate: I'm an NQ in the corporate London team.

So my background: I'm from a single parent household, low income and a bit about why social mobility matters to me is because I feel like I see the impact of it every day.

And that's because I speak to my school friends almost every day up until this point.

And the issue they faced is they didn't know what they didn't know at the time. We were doing GCSEs and A levels, and those sort of things.

And what I mean by that is we were never really told that this is the impact of doing well in your exams. This is the impact of doing well at school and get involved with these extra things.

We were just told, please try and do your best and that'll be a good thing.

So I feel strongly about trying to make sure that people from less privileged backgrounds get the opportunities that that others get and the knowledge that they can do what they would like to do with their lives.

Claire Lindsay, Senior Brand Manager: Hi everyone. I'm Claire. I'm senior brand manager here at DLA Piper.

I've been here for about 5 years.

I grew up in a low income household and a council estate in Essex. Despite not doing the 11+, I did all right and ended up as the first in family to go to university.

And that's kind of the first time that I really noticed that there were people that were different to me, what I would call ‘posh people’. That's the first time I really became class conscious.

And then that kind of stayed with me into my first professional role at Magic Circle firm, which I think we'll probably talk a little bit about later.

But it gave me a bit of a chip on my shoulder, I have to admit, and a bit of imposter syndrome, you know, all that other great stuff that we battle with.

And really, for me, Horizons is about creating a safe space for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to come together, for us to get allies on board and for us to really kind of share our stories and amplify our voices within the firm.

Fabian Murray, Solicitor Apprentice, Real Estate: Hi everyone, my name's Fabian. I'm a third year solicitor apprentice based in the Manchester office.

A bit about my background: I grew up in Gorton, East Manchester, which is in the top 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England.

I came from a low income household and those are just my circumstances growing up.

But upon entering the legal profession, I became much more class aware and conscious of the fact that people from backgrounds similar to mine don't normally end up in the position that I am in today.

And that sort of drives my passion and interest for social mobility, because I think we really need to acknowledge and educate people on the barriers that people face from backgrounds similar to mine, and we need to work towards removing these barriers for the next generation of lawyers.

Fabian Murray: I think it's important to remember that you can be professional and authentic, and you don't need to sacrifice one for the other. I've never felt the need to change my accent because of this.

And I've had comments before on calls where people have said it's refreshing to hear a Mancunian accent.

And I think it's important to acknowledge that as our client base becomes more diverse, or it's becoming more diverse and accepting and inclusive, it drives forward our relationships with clients as well.

Jake Manton, Associate, Corporate: I've never been asked why are you speaking like this or, or anything like that, but it's very internal.

So when I'm going into the office for the first time, when I first started the job or when I'm going into meetings for the first time, or maybe when I'm doing this, I sort of unconsciously try and pronounce things in in a certain way.

And it does make you feel a little bit more nervous when you're doing things like this and you don't necessarily feel like someone else with your accent or your background has done it very often.

Lorraine Reader: I wanted to finish on a quote if I could actually, which is from Jon Hayes.

And I saw this on an article that he recently wrote for Dive In. John said:

“It seems to me that the more people that I have around me where I don't think I have everything in common with them, the happier I feel and the better I think we serve each other and our clients.”

So I thought that that was a wonderful note to finish on and perhaps we could take that sentiment forward and work collaboratively, boldly and inclusively together, going forward.

So thank you very much to all of you.