Bates Wells

Diversity at Bates Wells:

We’re incredibly proud of our people and their creativity. At Bates Wells, everyone is encouraged to develop, innovate and participate in activities to promote a truly equal, diverse and inclusive environment. Our Diversity & Inclusion Forum (DIF), led by two partners, brings together the elements which make for a diverse and inclusive culture.

DIF acts as an umbrella for our creative groups and networks to flourish. Our groups and networks are led by ambassadors who play a key role in fostering that enthusiasm and creativity. They create a comprehensive DIF strategy which sets out our key objectives and actions for the future. Each of our DIF groups and networks are a true cross-section of the firm, across all practice areas and business support roles, with initiatives dreamt up by members, whoever they may be and no matter how junior, to make the world a better place. The activities of our groups and networks are interwoven into the firm, across our governance, strategy, policies and support tools, to achieve a coordinated approach across our inclusion themes.

Our DIF groups

Gender Equality

The Gender Equality group is particularly interested in women in leadership, family friendly working for Dads and Mums, and transgender inclusion (working with Queen Street Pride network). We work strategically to improve gender equality at Bates Wells, and in the legal sector more generally.

Internally we work on number of interesting internal projects including:

• Reviewing and revising Bates Wells gender pay gap reports
• Contributing to the firm’s guidance on gender neutral language in our drafting and communications;
• Consulting with Bates Wells people and reviewing the firm’s practices in relation to part-time working, flexible working and work allocation;
• Review of the firm’s policies, including the enhanced paternity leave policy and recruitment policies to promote inclusive hiring practices;
• Drafting and implementing a transgender inclusion policy, working with DIF’s Queen Street Pride group; and
• Celebrating International Women’s Day, International Men’s Day, Transgender Day of Visibility, and Transgender Day of Remembrance every year.

Externally we have been involved with:

• Working with the Law Society to draft a practical toolkit for women in law providing guidance and addressing challenges women face in the sector across the world;
• Contributing to the Law Society’s diversity and inclusion accreditation pilot, helping to shape how the Law Society encourages firms to monitor and promote gender equality;
• Hosting three women’s roundtables in Autumn 2018 and two men’s roundtables in Spring 2019 as part of the Law Society’s Women in Leadership in Law project
• Speaking at external events, including Melanie Carter at the Women In Law Summit 2019 and 2021.

Queen Street Pride

Queen Street Pride (“QSP”) is Bates Wells’ network for those within the firm who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex or queer (“LGBTIQ+”) and their allies and supporters. The network also works closely with other DIF groups to make sure that we recognise and promote a better understanding of intersectionality. As well as promoting education and empathy around all things LGBTIQ+ and intersectionality QSP are also a very socially driven network and will be hosting more social events as well as working on specific projects to promote inclusivity at Bates Wells.

Reach & Rise

REACH & RISE are a powerhouse for moving the conversation forward on racial equity for all and developing Bates Wells as an ethnically diverse firm. REACH (Race, Ethnicity & Cultural Heritage) strives to educate and enhance a greater sense of understanding among all colleagues around race and ethnicity. They work to provide a safe and respectful environment where our people from ethnic minority backgrounds can find support and share ideas and experiences. RISE is a sub-group of REACH and leads the firm’s work on increasing representation and continuing to make Bates Wells a welcoming and supportive environment for current and future Black colleagues.

Some of REACH & RISE’s key priorities are creating an effective baseline for reporting to inform positive action; celebrating Black History Month(s); encouraging and educating on allyship; creating opportunity and safe spaces to share, learn and understand the experiences of our Black colleagues; increasing the awareness of our leadership to inform their decision making; working with departments to review and improve policy that fosters a more equitable environment.

STEP

The STEP group at Bates Wells is focussed on social mobility. STEP stands for ‘Seeing Talent, Excellence and Potential in Everyone’ and the group looks to promote social mobility both internally and externally at Bates Wells.

The STEP group comprises people from across the firm, from paralegals to partners and HR, who are passionate about social mobility and who together organise, lead and participate in our various social mobility schemes, projects and initiatives. The group is also supported by brilliant volunteers from across the firm who give up their time to assist. Our aim is to remove any barriers to working in a law firm which people from certain backgrounds may face and to ensure that there is a level playing field at Bates Wells so that we can attract, retain and promote the best people.

UnstoppABLE

UnstoppABLE Disability and Carer Network celebrates the ability and uniqueness of our employees. We want to support and empower disabled people, carers and people with caring responsibilities, and neurodiverse people, so that they can thrive through all stages of their career. For every person to reach their full potential, we must remove fear of discrimination or judgement and create an environment where employees feel safe to disclose and seek support. We recognise and respect that each person’s experience is different. Our champions include employees and partners from across the business who are committed to supporting colleagues. The UnstoppABLE group is open to anyone who wants to be involved, whether you are personally affected or an ally. Please contact one of our Ambassadors to be added to the network email group and catch ups.