Our people

Gender

Striving for gender equality remains a business priority. Women make up 32% of our international partnership – a figure that has more than doubled in the last 10 years. We are committed to providing the best platform for female progression and to increasing the representation of women in the partnership and in senior management positions. To achieve this, we have continued to introduce a number of programmes and processes to support career development for women:

How are we striving to reach our goals?

• Targets for female partner promotions- increased to 50% in 2026
• Sponsorship for all male and female managing associates to support their readiness for the partnership
• Formal accountability via our partner, associate and business services gender balance committees
• Our women’s network, Gender Balance at Simmons, leads on business development opportunities with our clients’ women’s networks
• Through group keeping in touch days, we make it easier to return to work after maternity and shared parental leave
• Mandatory inclusive leadership and unconscious bias training

LGBTQ+

We are proud to be a Stonewall Top Global Employer for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Together with our LGBTQ+ network and in collaboration with our clients, suppliers and community partners, we are at the forefront of driving LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.

Race and Ethnicity

Our ambition is to increase our race and ethnic diversity and inclusion across our firm, based on our action plan. Built on the principles of the Business in the Community – Race at Work Charter, this focusses out commitment and our partner co chairs lead the conversation about racial equality at work.

Included in our action plan:

• Targets to ensure greater focus and accountability, with an ambition that 15% of UK partners will be from an ethnic minority background, as will 15% of Managing Associates, 30% Associates, 35% Trainees and 20% of the business services population by 2026.
• We are founding partners and signatories of the 10,000 Black Interns programme which offers paid work experience to black students across a range of sectors each year. The aim of the initiative is for over 20 industries to join together to provide a total of 10,000 internships over five years.
• We are a member of Legal Core in the UK, supporting the mission to increase the representation of ethnic minority individuals in private practice and create a fundamental shift across the legal sector by working collectively.
• Allyship Programme: in 2023, we rolled out race & ethnicity allyship training to the UK, focussing on key themes from our ‘how to be a better ally’ booklet authored by members of our race & ethnicity network. The sessions were delivered by an external facilitator and included face to face discussions on allyship and challenging non-inclusive behaviours.

Social Mobility

We place great value on widening access to the legal profession and career opportunities. Providing greater access to students from all backgrounds is vital when it comes to building a diverse workforce for the future. We run a variety of social mobility programmes to support this, including:

• Young Talent Programme: Is our award-wining programme working alongside Frederick Bremer School, Walthamstow, London, designed to raise students’ aspirations through a series of ongoing, longer-term initiatives that provide access to the legal profession and wider work opportunities. Running since 2012, the programme involves several interactions with the students over a seven year commitment including work experience (in year 10), a paid internship (once the students have finished their GCSEs in year 11), ongoing mentoring support and skills sessions, and the opportunity to apply for a university bursary which four students per cohort are awarded.

• Brampton Future Lawyers: Our carefully designed programme which supports students who want to pursue a career in law, in collaboration with Brampton Manor Academy, East Ham, London. The programme offers work experience, mentoring and skills sessions over two years.

• Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme: Offers access to a wider talent pool within a broader socio-economic group by offering candidates an opportunity to earn while learning. Apprentices complete a six-year programme to qualify as solicitors. They gain practical work experience and spend one day a week studying with BPP University.

• Big City Bright Future initiative: We take part hosting internships for students from ethnic minorities and under-represented group, in collaboration with IntoUniversity. We offer a three-week paid work experience programme each year for school leavers, before university, who aspire to work within the law sector.

• 10,000 Able Interns programme: An initiative to support university students from a disability background. It stemmed from the success of the 10,000 Black Interns programme and applies the same framework, offering paid work experience to disabled students across a range of sectors each year.

• Primary School programme – in recognition that social mobility outreach programmes typically target secondary school students, as well as evolving research showing that students as young as years 5/6 (aged 10/11) often develop self-limiting beliefs that critically impact opportunities and choices later on, we have created some lesson plans for ten year olds. We have worked with three clients and have recorded some lessons (with facilitation teacher notes) to educate children on what it means to become a lawyer, identify key transferable skills and have created exercises to help the children practise these in a fun and creative way. We are rolling this programme out to 700 schools, countrywide, in 2024.

• Social mobility real estate programme: The Real Estate and Real Estate Finance groups jointly support the Academy of Real Assets’s social mobility programme, helping provide access to the industry for those from a diverse background.

• Envision mentoring programme: Has been working with the firm for over a decade, to support young people from Redland Green school, Bristol. Each year we provide 15 young people, from disadvantaged and neurodiverse backgrounds, group mentoring sessions to help developing soft skills such as creativity, teamwork, determination and confidence, to equip them for the work environment.

• City Solicitor Horizons: We provide work experience and opportunities to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. As part of this initiative, we provide mentoring support and work experience for three students per programme year.

Neurodiversity

In late 2022, we started to implement a plan to proactively create a neuro-inclusive culture. We have partnered with a workplace assessment provider that offers comprehensive reports, including recommendations to support neurodiverse employees reach their full potential. We have provided training across the firm and to our recruitment teams to raise awareness and create a hiring and onboarding process that attracts and supports neurodiverse candidates.

Our diversity networks

Our diversity networks play a key part in shaping our workplace culture. They provide our people with support and a forum to meet others with common interests.

• Parents & Carers at Simmons: founded in 2024, this network brings together colleagues who are balancing professional responsibilities with parenting or caregiving duties. Contact: Eucharia Bragg.
• Christians at Simmons: our longest running network meets regularly and host seminars to discuss different aspects of Christianity. Contact: Darren Mitchell.
• Race & Ethnicity at Simmons: our race and ethnicity network supports our firm’s objective to increase race and ethnicity diversity and representation. Our partner co-chairs are leading the implementation of our action plan. Contact: Jen Yee Chan and Kamal Arulvel.
• Jewish at Simmons: since its launch the network has arranged a number of social events to mark key events and festivals in the Jewish calendar.
• LGBTQ+ at Simmons: the LGBTQ+ network raises the profile of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the firm and provides practical assistance in addressing LGBTQ+ issues. Contacts: Peter Lockwood and Julia Gori
• Muslims at Simmons: bringing together colleagues who have an interest in the Islamic faith and/or Islamic affairs for networking, socialising and learning Contact Muneer Khan.
• Neurodiversity at Simmons: The network works across the firm to consider and encourage change, to become more neuro inclusive and provide an avenue for new joiners as well as parents and carers who may need support. Contact Erika Pagano and David Kidman.
• Social Mobility at Simmons: building awareness and understanding of social mobility and seeking to address the issues it creates. Contact Jo Cooper and Elliot Beard.
• Gender Balance at Simmons: Our gender network supports progression for both women and men across the firm. The network’s objectives are to deliver internal events (open to women and men) to promote development, retention and wellbeing, connecting people in the firm and supporting the firm’s gender balance initiatives. Contact Barbara Hamilton-Bruce and Collette Walsh-Jones.