UK and Africa

Providing a forum for networking and business development. Encouraging employee engagement. Widening access to the profession. Promoting wellbeing. We support our approach to diversity and inclusion through six active employee networks: Hogan Lovells Pride; 50:50 (Gender) Network; Multicultural Network; Working Families Network; Disability and Wellbeing Network; and our StepUp Network for trainees, associates, and senior associates.

Specific Events and Initiatives

• We collaborated with Aspiring Solicitors to share the story of Rachel: a proud lesbian lawyer and first generation graduate who will be starting a training contract with us in 2018 thanks to the help of Aspiring Solicitors.
  
  
  
• Focused activity on the early engagement of school-age students, seeking to inspire them to consider careers in law with support and advice on how to achieve this, and reached out to all talented university students who want to pursue a career in law. Examples of initiatives include Hogan Lovells Ladder to Law, Pathways to Law, and DiversCity, (a careers fair for LGBT law students).
• Held a week of events to mark London Pride, including our signature Pride Client Lunch, which featured keynote speaker Christopher Biggins in 2017.
• Celebrated International Women's Day with a screening of “Rafea Solar Mama” in honour of our Barefoot college partnership and our signature “Cocktails and Conversation” event.
• Launched our Global Pride+ network in May 2017 to promote a supportive and inclusive culture for all LGBT+ colleagues globally  and to visibly show support for the LGBT+ community, including in jurisdictions where the LGBT+ community still suffers from discrimination. We have nearly 1,300 global members and host local and global events throughout the year. 
• We are proud to be the first UK law firm to launch a gender transitioning in the workplace policy. Our policy outlines guidelines on practical considerations and includes information on the resources the firm can offer and points of contact that can provide confidential support. We also run trans inclusion training which gives guidance on creating a trans inclusive environment. 
• Provided our trainees, associates, and senior associates with the opportunity to informally network with their peer clients at StepUp’s “7 Drinks for 7 Game-changers” event, which benefitted our local office charities.
• Held our fifth annual Wellbeing Week, a popular week which included mindfulness workshops, an urban smoothie bike, lunchtime talks, a table tennis tournament, gym classes, and more, to promote wellbeing within our UK offices.
• Held a series of events for our Working Families Network on topics such as “Supporting Children with Exams,” "Dementia," and quarterly “New and Expectant Parent Networking Drop-ins.” 
• Implemented a ground-breaking contextual recruitment tool that will pave the way for the promotion of social mobility in recruitment. The tool works by hardwiring social mobility metrics into the existing graduate recruitment “Applicant Tracking System,” enabling the recruitment team to take the economic background and personal circumstances of candidates into account for the first time. 
• Provided bursaries for traditionally underrepresented students, contributing up to £18,000 per student towards undergraduate fees. In addition to the financial support, we also provide the students with access to mentoring and career advice. 
• Held “Communication Skills Workshops” in partnership with a local school for students from both ethnically diverse and traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to help them develop networking and communication skills and to be given the opportunity to practice these skills in a professional environment.