HFW sets out action plan to boost gender equality

Women made up just 12.2 per cent of HFW’s partnership at the start of 2015 but the firm has set the ambitious target amid a ramped-up focus on diversity issues this year.

The firm will initially focus on increasing the number of junior women partners, with a recognition that the target will be hard to hit.

Over this summer HFW commissioned an independent consultant to carry out a series of focus groups with its female lawyers, speaking to 68 per cent of female partners and associates in the process.

As a result of the research HFW is now looking at a range of ways to reduce career barriers and make it easier for women to progress at the firm, especially those who are on the pathway to becoming a partner. 

These include unconscious bias training, increasing understanding and awareness of gender diversity as a business issue.

HFW is also pushing flexible working and support for parents more generally, among both men and women, particularly those on the track to partnership.

The firm hired its first dedicated corporate social responsibility (CSR) manager last year. Kathryn Hull’s mandate also sees her focus on improving the firm’s diversity record. She was previously a corporate responsibility manager for Big Four accountancy firm KPMG. 

Away from gender diversity, HFW is also looking at ways to improve social mobility, with efforts including doubling the number of placements available to students as part of its commitment to social mobility campaign group PRIME.

HFW is the latest in a string of firms to set a target for the number of women in partnership. Previously firms including Baker & McKenzie, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Herbert Smith Freehills and Linklaters have all set 30 per cent targets, with the aim of hitting this number within the next few years.