CILEx Regulation has launched its first ever Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy, championing fair access for all in the legal services market and setting out a series of clear measurable commitments for 2022-24.
Ensuring that lawyers are treated fairly, whatever their background, is a key commitment from CILEx Regulation. Therefore, a major focus of the strategy is on improving the ability of aspiring lawyers to enter and progress in the legal profession, based on merit and regardless of their circumstances or diverse characteristics. The strategy also looks to improve access for all consumers who use legal services.
I am delighted to introduce CILEx Regulation’s first strategy on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). As a Board, we cherish the huge diversity of those we regulate and are firmly committed to fair access for all those who work within the legal services market, as well as those who use legal services. In our most recent research (on our website) over 4/5 agreed that “without CILEX, I wouldn’t have a career in the legal profession”.
So for us, promoting EDI is not an optional extra but at the heart of all we do as an employer, as a regulator, and as a partner with others working on legal issues. This strategy sets out what we have already accomplished and what we plan to do over the next three years. In implementing this, we want to work closely with those we regulate as well as many others. So, if you have ideas of what we could do better, please let me know.
Jonathan Rees, Chair of CILEx Regulation (pictured)
Please access our full EDI 2022-24 strategy document for further information.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion roundtable – March 2022
Developing the Strategy – next steps
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion – Strategy 2022-24
We collect diversity data to enable us to gain a better understanding of the diversity of our regulated community and monitor changes over time.
The data provides evidence of where there may be issues for people with different characteristics, for example, their ability to progress their careers.
We also use the information to consider potential impacts that our policy and regulatory decisions may have on those we regulate with different diversity characteristics.
In 2023, we carried out our fourth diversity data collection from the whole of our regulated community against a broad range of diversity characteristics and prepared a report of our findings – CRL Diversity Report 2023.
We also collected diversity data from our authorised firms. We had, for the first time, enough firms for us to collect sufficient data to publish a report of our findings that preserves anonymity of our firms’ workforce.
Please access the full Firms 2023 Diversity Report for further information.