Global law firm, Reed Smith was last night awarded, ‘Ethical Initiative of the Year’ at The Lawyer Awards in London.

The award recognised a leading piece of pro bono work or an initiative that aimed to promote social mobility, access to justice, sustainability or diversity. Reed Smith’s diversity programme was acknowledged for its achievements in attracting and recruiting disabled candidates.

In 2014, Reed Smith received 65 applications from disabled candidates for the summer vacation scheme and made five training contract offers to disabled applicants, all of which have been accepted.

The win is the fourth award given to Reed Smith this year for its disability programme following similar successes at the Legal Innovation Awards, the Legal Business Awards and the UK Diversity Legal Awards.

Sakil Suleman, partner and head of the firm’s UK Diversity Committee, commented:

“We launched the Disability Task Force in 2012 to improve internal collaboration and communications, to develop external partnerships and to increase diversity within our business. This was an important part of our overall objective to widen our talent pool as far as is possible, to ensure we are recruiting the very best people to help service our clients. We are beginning to see positive results in our recruitment and retention of disabled talent and this award is another great endorsement of the work we are doing in this area.”

ENDS

Note to Editors:

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm, with more than 1,800 lawyers in 26 offices throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are central to Reed Smith’s business. The talent pool is changing rapidly and the firm is determined to attract candidates from the widest pool possible, to continue to be competitive and to ensure the very best service for its clients. The firm sees differences as a strength and works hard to ensure a fair and inclusive environment for all, where the unique insights, perspectives and backgrounds of individuals are valued.

Reed Smith runs a number of programmes focused on all aspects of diversity and inclusion, including: race and ethnicity, disability, social mobility, gender equality and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The firm’s inclusion wheel summarises the key inclusion initiatives being undertaken both internally and externally.

For further information, please contact Andrew Darby (senior corporate communications executive EME) on +44 (0)20 3116 3795.