Thompsons is proud to have acted in the first equal pay for equal work case in the UK in 1926, over 95 years ago and just five years after the firm was formed. We have, throughout our history since, been pushing legal boundaries and at the forefront of campaigns for equal rights.
We are therefore delighted to be participating in and working towards the Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule certification over the next year.
The Mansfield Rule originated in the US and is named after Arabella Mansfield, who was the first woman admitted to practice law in the USA. Running for the first time in the UK this year, following a successful pilot in 2021, the Mansfield Rule aims to increase the number of female, BAME, disabled and LGBTQ+ lawyers (who have been historically underrepresented) in leadership roles in law firms.
To achieve accreditation, the firm must commit to at least 30% of underrepresented lawyers being considered for a variety of both internal and external roles.
Our commitment to ensuring fairness and equality at work has been at the heart of who we are as a law firm and an employer throughout the last one hundred years. We see achieving this accreditation as a way to externally benchmark our achievements so far, to take us yet further as a firm that offers a truly inclusive workplace and to ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion underpin everything we do.