Diversity
We have a strong commitment towards encouraging a diverse
workforce. We strive to attract and retain the best people and
provide an environment where each individual can develop and build
a rewarding career.
The right team
We aim to recruit the right team for the job and treat all
applicants and employees equally regardless of gender, marital
status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, age, disability,
sexual orientation, religion or belief. The firm is friendly, open
and promotes inclusiveness. Everyone in the firm is respected
for the role they play, and every member of the team is
highly-valued.
Excellence above tradition
The firm sets itself apart from the traditional law firm by
recruiting from a wide range of educational backgrounds at every
level. Our partners are from a range of universities. We
believe that we can maintain academic excellence yet build a
workforce that reflects our clients’ values and the people we work
with everyday. We feel this approach to recruitment will
become essential for the successful law firms of tomorrow.
Diversity in practice
As a modern employer we are committed to offering flexible
working to our employees where viable, and have a number of
employees who work in this way. In addition, we provide
childcare vouchers to employees where applicable.
We monitor our diversity statistics and analyse these against
comparative industry figures.
- 4% of our partners are in an ethnic minority compared to 2%
comparative industry figures, and 15% of all staff and partners are
in an ethnic minority compared to 8% comparative industry figures,
ranking FFW in the top 10 percentile (PeopleCount Law Survey,
October 2010)
- In our view, the range of our people’s backgrounds is set to
increase. Over the past two years we have seen an increase in
the diversity of our fee earners:
- 15% of trainees come from a non-white ethnic background,
compared with 7% in April 2005
- 18% of our Lawyers come from ethnic backgrounds; an
increase from 9% in April 2005 and compared to a 9% average of
UK firms (PeopleCount Law Survey, October 2010)
The table below shows ethnicity and gender statistics for Field
Fisher Waterhouse (effective 1 May 2013).
|
Partners/Lawyers |
Non Fee Earners |
Total |
| Asian |
6.6% |
7.1% |
6.9% |
| Black |
0.0% |
6.8% |
3.4% |
| Chinese |
0.4% |
2.3% |
1.4% |
| Mixed |
5.1% |
3.8% |
4.5% |
| Other |
0.8% |
0.8% |
0.8% |
| White |
87.1% |
79.2% |
83.2% |
| Male |
54.0% |
27.9% |
41.0% |
| Female |
46.0% |
72.1% |
59.0% |
| Total |
276 |
287 |
563 |
The Broader Context
The firm has a Corporate Social Responsibility policy and has
strong links with the local community supporting charities and
undertaking pro bono work. Further details can be found on our
Corporate Social Responsibility section of the
website.