Equality, diversity & inclusion
“They make you feel they are part of your team, adding value.”
Legal 500
The nature of our work and client base call for diverse perspectives to deliver the best advice: we support trustees, employers, and providers on an immense variety of work, right up to the knottiest, highest value and most technical matters in the industry. We believe passionately that our staff will be most successful when they bring their authentic selves to work and when they feel safe and respected and are protected from all forms of harm in the workplace. Our staff are entitled to expect that any dealings with them (whether from colleagues, clients or third parties) will be free from discrimination, harassment, victimisation or bullying, and we operate a zero tolerance approach in this regard.
Diversifying access to the profession
Research shows that socio-economic background affects progression to partner. 62% of our partners attended a state school – 15% more than the City firm average. However, we recognise that there is an underrepresentation of ethnic minority lawyers within our firm and more widely.
We seek to broaden access to the profession at all levels. Measures we take include:
- sponsorship of The Law Society’s Diversity Access scheme
- corporate membership of Black Lawyers Matter
- mentoring and work experience opportunities for students who have experienced barriers to entering the law
- sponsored apprenticeships in business services roles
- our fully paid Graduate Solicitor Apprentice programme
- participation in the Tower Hamlets Head to Head Interview Programme
- our partnership with educational charity Young Citizens through participation in their Experts in Law programme. Read Emily’s experience of volunteering with Experts in Law
- becoming the second law firm to become a corporate member of the Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity (GAIN)
Gender and family positive
Our working environment allows women to progress. While the average across the industry is 33% female partners (dropping to 25% of equity partners), almost 60% of our partners and 65% of our fee earners are female.
We take active steps to maintain our positive approach to gender diversity and our family friendly culture, including a generous family leave policy, which provides 26 weeks of full pay regardless of gender, and access to mentoring and other resources to support our team.
Here are some of the initiatives from 2025:
- we launched Neonatal Care, Family Leave, and Carer’s Leave policies, all exceeding statutory minimums. Notably, Family Leave now offers 26 weeks of full pay to all new parents, regardless of gender
- established an internal network for parents/carers of neurodivergent children
- launched the firm’s first menopause policy, with two dedicated menopause champions who organise awareness events and support employees experiencing menopausal symptoms
- flexible working, mentoring, and women-led networks such as the Female Forum, supporting women at all stages of their careers.
LGBTQ+
We celebrate LGBTQ+ diversity among the Sackers team, and in the wider world. As one of the few openly gay firm heads in the legal sector, and one of the best known LGBTQ+ leaders in the pensions world, senior partner David Saunders is a role model in both.
We are members of inclusive organisations celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in our industry such as LGBT Great, and we mark Pride by inviting LGBTQ+ community members to speak to our team, promoting understanding and celebrating diversity throughout the population. Read David’s account of his personal journey to coming out.
Mental health and wellbeing
Lawyers across the profession are increasingly speaking out about the pressure they face at work. Recognising this, we actively promote the mental health of all staff and aim to ensure that work at Sackers is not another source of stress and anxiety. A range of proactive measures offering relevant services to our team help create a safety net in this critical area, and earlier this year four of our staff qualified as Mental Health First Aiders to provide additional support to staff. Naomi Brown, one of our mental health first aiders, wrote about the lack of awareness of mental health issues affecting those in the legal sector. You can also read Amanda’s experience of managing mental health.
We are proud to be signatories to the Mindful Business Charter, reinforcing our commitment to reducing work stress and promoting healthier working practices across the legal profession. We have pledged to abide by the Charter’s principles, including openness, respect for working hours, and considerate delegation of tasks.
Work-life balance
Given the technical intricacy of much of our work, we are at our best when we enjoy a genuinely healthy work-life balance. We are supportive of staff working flexibly, and a high proportion of Sackers lawyers take advantage of flexible working arrangements.
Disability
- We support employees with disabilities/medical conditions and make appropriate adjustments to support them in their roles. We have signed up to the Disability Confident scheme to support us in recruiting and retaining the best people and to make the most of the opportunities provided by employing disabled people. We are now a level 2 disability confident employer.
- We continue to make workplace adjustments as needed, including recommendations from our recent Access Audit which has been addressed in our office refit.
- We have launched new policies and support networks, such as our internal network for parents/carers of neurodivergent children, to foster a more inclusive environment.
