City law firms are under pressure to promote more women and people from ethnic minorities.

Simon Davis, managing partner of Linklaters, told the Financial Times that big firms needed to do better for business reasons.

An increasing number of clients are requesting diversity statistics, he said.
“If clients are pushing for things it’s more tangibly a business need.” Also noting the positive impact of different viewpoints can bring to the business environment."

Diversity statistics show women account for 50%  of trainees, but only 20% of partners in law firms.

Linklaters, along with several other big firms, are introducing programmes to spot and support talented people in response to the “fair criticism” that they fail to match diversity seen elsewhere in the business.