Race and Ethnicity

In 2024, we introduced the Articles Plus programme offering support to Trainees from underrepresented ethnic groups.

The programme offers Trainee Solicitors the opportunity to participate in group and individual coaching sessions to discuss a range of topics such as how to effectively communicate with supervisors and navigate their trainee and qualification journey.

"When I first joined Stephenson Harwood, I was quite timid. The Articles Plus programme was instrumental in transforming my approach, developing my confidence during my first seat and helping me to build rapport with colleagues. During the programme, I got to meet peers at Stephenson Harwood and at other firms to collectively discuss how we can make the most out of our first seats and how to ask supervisors about their preferred working style so we can ensure that we tailor our approach to different team members. The coaching session also helped me to have an individual discussion with a qualified coach about how to make sure that my team sees me as a trustworthy colleague, ensuring that I get a chance to experience a variety of work."

- Marc Dai, Trainee Solicitor

• Flexible bank holiday exchange policy
  In 2024, we launched our flexible bank holiday exchange policy in our London office, a benefit which allows all colleagues to exchange up to three public holidays for an alternative day of their choice. This policy is for everyone but may be particularly valued by those who observe or celebrate religious or cultural events that are significant to them, and those who have family based outside of the UK.
• Inclusive dress-code policy
  We strive to ensure that our dress code policy is inclusive to all. We’ve built race-based hair inclusion into this policy to ensure that Black colleagues don’t experience hair discrimination at work.

• Stephenson Harwood advancing racial and ethnic diversity (SHARED)
  Our SHARED employee network provides a space for open conversations around race and ethnicity in the firm and creates a supportive space where ethnic minority colleagues can connect.

• We report our progress against our diversity targets annually. You can find those reports here.
• We voluntarily report on our ethnicity pay gap data in our annual UK Diversity Pay reporting. You can find those reports here.