Statement: a call for racial equality

Racism and racial injustice have no place in our world and each of us plays a crucial role in making progress towards a fairer and more equal society. We share great sadness and anger at the existence of racist attitudes and behaviour, highlighted recently by George Floyd's killing, and are strong in our wish to support our Black and minority group colleagues and friends who are confronting the racism and racial injustice that persist in the US, UK and around the world.

It is not the responsibility of our Black and minority group colleagues to educate us on how to do better. The responsibility lies on us as allies to inform ourselves and be active supporters and agents of change, especially in respect of the Black Lives Matter movement. All of us must use our voices to speak out against racial injustice and as a firm we are focused on finding more, and better, ways to do that. We will stand by, and be allies to, our colleagues from minority groups, and will shoulder the responsibility of being actively anti-racist so as to face down prejudice.

Beyond our individual roles within society at large, our firm has a duty to effect change within the legal profession. We place diversity and inclusion centrally within our business because we recognise it's the right thing to do, not only for our firm, but for our people, our clients and the communities in which we operate. Our Cultural Diversity Network is focused on ensuring we continue to build on our plans, hear from our colleagues and raise our game. They are working closely with organisations, such as Future First and Aspiring Solicitors, that are committed to improving access to the legal profession. These organisations support a high proportion of Black and minority ethnic groups across the UK, and we will continue to collaborate with them and other organisations that are committed to making an impact.

We are under no illusion that we need to do more and must avoid complacency. We recognise that making progress requires collective effort and intelligence, so will be seeking to come together internally, and with our clients and peers, to drive positive steps in the legal profession and the wider community to defeat racism.

Our commitment is to do everything we can to use our platform, connections and legal expertise to defeat racism and racial injustice.