Baker & McKenzie, Hogan Lovells To Compare Applicants Social Backgrounds

International firms Baker & McKenzie and Hogan Lovells are to compare economic and social circumstances of their applicants, suggesting the legal industry could become more diverse very soon.

Using tools that compare exam results of 3,500 schools and colleges and 2.5m postcodes, firms will be able to contextualise their applicants. The move proves that Baker & McKenzie were worthy of being named a social mobility champion by the government back in November.

Tom Astle, Hogan Lovells graduate recruitment partner, said: “We welcome this as a quantum leap in objective and reliable methods of screening applications, enabling those from less privileged backgrounds to shine through… We will now have greater understanding of the challenges some candidates have faced and overcome.  This will give candidates the confidence that they have been selected on their merits by organisations that recognise their achievements in context and are keen to give them every opportunity to demonstrate their potential.”

Raph Mokades, managing director of Rare Recruitment, the diversity organisation with whom the firms have partnered with, said: “Someone who gets AAA at A Level from a very high performing school may be underperforming relative to the average attainment at that institution, whereas someone who gets AAA at A Level from a school where the average is DDE, whose parents may not have attended university, and who lives in a deprived postcode, is outstanding - even if he or she does not have glistening work experience and extra-curricular activities.”

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