Slaughter and May Law Firm Is A Top 75 Employer

Slaughter and May is an international law firm headquartered in Bunhill Row, London. Founded in 1889, Slaughter and May is considered to be one of the most prestigious law firms in the world and is a member of the “Magic Circle” of elite London-headquartered law firms.

Slaughter and May has today been ranked as one of the Top 75 employers in the Social Mobility Employer Index 2019.

The Top 75 United Kingdom employers who have taken the most action to improve social mobility in the workplace are announced today in what is believed to be the world’s only Social Mobility Employer Index.

The Index is the creation of the Social Mobility Foundation and ranks employers on the actions they are taking to ensure they are open to accessing and progressing talent from all class backgrounds.

Employers are assessed on everything from the work they do with young people, to their recruitment and selection processes and how people from lower income backgrounds progress up the ladder within their organisations.

125 employers from 18 sectors, who collectively employ over 1.1 million people in the United Kingdom, answered around 100 questions across 7 different areas. Over 14,000 employees also took part in a voluntary employee survey.

Slaughter and May has been ranked 40th in this Year’s Top 75 employers, improving on its ranking in 2018 which saw it reach 45th place.

Measures taken by the firm to improve social mobility include:

• the launch in 2019 of the Law Springboard programme in partnership with upReach, which is designed to improve access to the legal sector for high potential undergraduates from less-advantaged backgrounds;
• the launch of Lead in to Law, in partnership with London-based diversity specialist company, Rare in September 2019. This two year development programme is aimed at supporting Year 12 and Year 13 students from socially diverse backgrounds who are interested in a legal career;
• being a founding member of The Social Mobility Business Partnership, formerly the Legal Social Mobility Partnership – a charity dedicated to supporting students from low income backgrounds;
• a partnership with Central Foundation Boys’ School and education charity The Access Project to support motivated students from less-privileged backgrounds win places at top universities;
• sponsoring Rare Discuss, an exclusive training programme for university students from less-advantaged backgrounds who are interested in pursuing a career in law; and
• being one of the first firms in the City to implement a contextual recruitment system to identify candidates with the greatest potential.

Slaughter and May law firm’s success in the Index is announced today at a launch event at the Francis Crick Institute.