Opening Doors In The Legal Industry

• Published date: 04 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Law Firm: Norton Rose Fulbright Hong Kong
• Author: Peter Scott

Last night we celebrated women entrepreneurs at our "Evening at the Expo" - an immersive and evocative digital expo, followed by a discussion with three excellent panellists, Kanya King CBE, Sophie Pender and Amanda Thomson. Thanks to each of them for sharing such interesting insights from their unique and inspirational journeys to become business leaders.

Listening to Sophie, in particular, struck a chord with me - social mobility is something very close to my heart. Having come from a Lincolnshire village where my parents ran the sub-post office, I'm a proud member of the country's least exclusive members' club - The 93% Club. This is the student-run charity for people who attended state schools, that Sophie founded in 2016 after studying at the University of Bristol, and feeling that she didn't "fit in".

Reflecting on my own career, I was lucky to have supervisors who supported me to be myself at work. I recognise this is not always the case, and each of the panellists shared examples of overcoming adversity to succeed; how being told they couldn't do something was their source of determination to prove that person wrong!

Although only 7% of the population in the UK are privately educated, the percentage is disproportionately higher when you look at the legal profession. Offering alternative routes into law, such as apprenticeships, can help to open doors but we also need to do more to ensure that those from diverse socio-economic...