The Global Legal Post has announced the launch of a diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) conference to take place on the day of next year’s Women and Diversity in Law Awards.

The summit and awards are scheduled for 13 March in London and are designed to complement each other, with the The Women and Diversity in Law Summit exploring themes and case studies showcased by the awards.

The content and speakers will be informed by an editorial board, largely, but not exclusively, drawn from the awards judging panel. 

The conference’s goal will be to explore the multiple ways in which the legal profession can improve diversity across all its facets, making it a more inclusive and equitable place to work. It will recognise the myriad ways in which the profession is seeking to take a lead in the field of DE&I, as recently illustrated by Slaughter and May’s unveiling of social mobility targets.

The summit will be launched in the autumn. Meanwhile, the timeline for the 2024 awards has now been published with the call for nominations scheduled for Tuesday 5 September, at which point the categories will be unveiled. In order to cast our net as widely as possible, we will be encouraging individuals and teams to nominate themselves and others across the range of categories.  This will be a simple process that should only take a few minutes.  

This year’s ceremony, which was hosted by prominent diversity campaigner Baroness Floella Benjamin, saw Some 400 finalists, awards’ judges and other representatives of the UK legal profession gather at the Marriott Grosvenor Square in London on 21 March. Former Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce, Reed Smith’s European managing partner, Tamara Box, and Natalie Sutherland, co-founder of the In/Fertility in the City initiative, were among the individuals recognised at last night’s awards.

Successful law firms included Browne Jacobson, CMS, Clifford Chance (CC), FieldFisher and RPC, while the barristers’ sets Matrix Chambers and 4 Pump Court were also among the 34 award winners. The evening culminated with the Lifetime Achievement Award, whose recipient is chosen by the judging panel. It went to Boyce, who in 2021 became the first black president of the Law Society of England and Wales as well as the first president of colour.

The 25-strong 2023 judging panel included Julia Chain, chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Human Dignity Trust; Herbert Smith Freehills CEO Justin D’Agostino, who founded his firm’s first LGBT+ network in 2007; and Lesley Wan, general counsel and whistleblowing officer at FBN Bank and founder of the Through the Looking Glass charity.

The official charity for the evening was LawCare, which promotes and supports good mental health in the legal community across the UK. 

Click here to for more information about the awards or visit our LinkedIn page to join the growing awards community. To read interviews with a number of this year’s awards judges, click here.

For Sponsorship enquiries in connection with the summit and awards, email wdlawards@globalcitymedia.com, and for marketing partnership enquiries email sherylpaul@globalcitymedia.com.