The Black Solicitors Network (BSN) published its 5th Diversity League Table on 17 December. One Crown Office Row came top of the list of all Chambers surveyed and Linklaters headed the law firm list. The table is compiled from analysis of four diversity strands of disability, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. The overall rankings take into account the demographic rankings, and also a new component this year which assessed “Policy & Practice”.

Philip Havers QC, Head of Chambers at One Crown Office Row said: “We congratulate the Black Solicitors Network for its work on the Diversity League Table and are delighted with this year’s result. In all we do, we try to foster a culture that encourages and supports diversity and equality. We achieve this through our policies, our training and by the way we treat each other and those who come into contact with us. I welcome this recognition of what we do.”

The League Table publication analyses the diversity profiles of many of the UK’s leading firms and Chambers, also ranking them in key areas before compiling the various tables which come together to give the overall Diversity League Table.

The 2010 Diversity League Table saw the introduction of the “BSN Diversity Quotient” which is made up from the combined scores from the demographic rankings, and also from the new “Policy & Practice” rankings. This new latter aspect makes it possible to consider day-to-day actions taken to improve diversity within a practice, alongside actual outcomes. The “Diversity Quotient” then determined the overall position in the Diversity League Table.

One Crown Office Row, with a Diversity Quotient score of 797, took the overall top spot for participating Chambers. Achieving first place in the League Table meant that that we were the first winners of the Diversity Legal Awards, which took place in October 2010, in the category of “Chambers of the Year”.