The InterLaw Diversity Forum is launching the BAME & Allies Network in order to recognise and support the careers of Black, Asian and minority ethnic lawyers.

Co-chaired by Lesley Wan of Lloyds Banking Group, Sheldon Mills of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Daniel Winterfeldt of Reed Smith, the BAME & Allies Network aims to help City law firms and legal departments create and maintain a pipeline of talent from entry level to partner or GC status.

Sheldon Mills of the CMA said: “We want to ensure that every BAME legal professional feels like they have a safe space, a first port of call for support and opportunities for career development and advancement that can support them in the long term.”

The BAME & Allies network takes its model from the work that the InterLaw Diversity Forum has done with LGBT professionals in the legal sector. Although increasing numbers of BAME talent is being recruited into the profession, progression remains a problem.

The initiative will include monthly meetings with talks and networking drinks which provide a platform for BAME professionals and allies to come together to support each other, form informal mentoring relationships and develop and share best practice across organisations.

The organisation is open to BAME professionals in the legal sector and also welcomes allies, who are either BAME in other professions or non-BAME supporters of equality in the legal sector.

Corporate counsel at Lloyds Banking Group Wan said: “Just as when the InterLaw Diversity Forum launched eight years ago to focus on LGBT equality in the legal sector across the UK, we are now at a point where BAME professionals, their employers and the wider BAME community need similar support.”

Reed Smith partner Daniel Winterfeldt added: “We have seen the InterLaw Diversity Forum help propel LGBT equality across the sector and support the success of individuals, networks and organisations, including the legal sector becoming number one on the Stonewall Work Equality Index (WEI) Top 100 Employers Index.

“This all started with an article in The Lawyer featuring Tim Hailes and JP Morgan telling law firms to “shape up” on LGBT issues.  We now need to take a call to action for support of BAME professionals who have not experienced similar success in the past eight years.”

The BAME & Allies network, which will be formally launched on 16 November, has already attracted significant support from individuals across the legal sector. Patrons include: Baroness Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth secretary general; Helen Grant MP, Sandie Okoro, GC at HSBC Global Asset Management, Dan Fitz, group general counsel of BT; Carol Hui, group general counsel of Heathrow Airport Holdings; and Professor Trevor Williams, chief economist at Lloyds Banking Group.

Helen Grant MP said: “We have been working to raise the aspirations of BAME candidates to encourage them to enter into the legal profession, but we also have a duty to ensure that they are then able to secure jobs, be promoted and reach the top levels of the profession.

“Given their track record, the work of the InterLaw Diversity Forum’s new BAME initiative will do just that and provide much needed support to BAME professionals and promote their success in the law.”