by Louis Goss, Telegraph
Proposals would have hit smaller firms with limited HR departments
A major diversity push by a legal industry watchdog has been abandoned following a backlash from lawyers over fears it would leave firms burdened with red tape from their HR departments.
The Legal Services Board (LSB), which oversees the regulation of the sector, scrapped plans for stronger diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) rules after a pushback from firms.
Its proposals would have demanded that the industry’s regulators, such as the Bar Standards Board and the Solicitors Regulation Authority, introduce tougher diversity measures.
The new measures would have required legal regulators to actively increase diversity and demonstrate how their policies were working, potentially resulting in stricter measures for firms across the country.
However, lawyers pushed back on the demands, warning that they would adversely affect smaller firms with limited HR departments. Small businesses currently account for most of the 9,000 law firms in the UK.
Instead, industry watchdogs will simply have to collect diversity data and lay out their approach to improving it.
Mark Evans, the president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said: “We welcome the LSB’s decision to focus its resources and recognise the potential impact that additional regulatory requirements can have, especially on small firms.”
Monisha Shah, who chairs the LSB, said: “We are concentrating our resources on fewer priorities, focusing on the most pressing risks to consumers and how regulation can protect them, enable technology and innovation, and support growth.”
It comes as the legal industry quietly rows back on years of measures intended to improve inclusion in the workplace.