DLA Piper partners with major in-house diversity group to improve D&I in the legal industry

DLA Piper has partnered with General Counsel for Diversity & Inclusion (GCD&I), a group comprising more than 100 in-house legal heads from across the UK and Europe, to support its initiative and work collaboratively to achieve greater equity, diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the legal community.

The GCD&I was launched in early 2019, driven by General Counsel in the largest companies in Europe. There are currently 117 signatories from a broad spectrum of companies which are working together across the legal profession to support D&I and drive change in the industry. The initiative focuses on four expertise communities including gender, LGBTQ+, ethnicity and ability.

DLA Piper will help the group develop the conversation about how in-house teams and law firms can work effectively together in improving diversity in the legal profession. The firm has signed up to this influential initiative alongside 11 law firms, and all of them have been identified by the GCD&I Steering Committee for a number of reasons including their global reach and the resource they can provide to actively support the initiative in its next phase of growth.

DLA Piper's Global Co-CEO, Simon Levine, commented: “There is a clear moral and business case for improving D&I across the legal sector. If we all contribute, work together and prioritise equal, diverse and inclusive working environments, we will see positive action. It takes time for change to take place but the profession is moving in the right direction and we are proud to support this initiative and play our part in this journey.”