Legal Business

Small gestures – can a new wave of social inclusion schemes deliver?

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Despite much debate in recent years, social inclusion in the legal profession remains woeful. Are a new range of initiatives the latest diversity fads or steps towards a breakthrough?

Ray Berg, UK managing partner of Osborne Clarke, recalls first getting his foot in the door of the legal profession: ‘I only got work experience because my dad started talking to someone in the back of his cab. He was so proud to say his son was this, that and the other. That someone was the then managing partner at Nicholson Graham & Jones and he said: “Would your son like to do a week’s work experience with us?” That was extremely fortuitous but people without those contacts shouldn’t have to rely on fortune like that.’