Law firms must help people... as long as they don't help the wrong people

There's only one thing that gets law firms more flak than not bothering to do anything to tackle entrenched social issues or the personal cost their businesses demand of their staff. And that's law firms bothering to do something to tackle etc, etc...

Take PRIME, the new initiative launched this month by 23 major law firms - including the entire magic circle - with the aim of improving social mobility in the law. The aim is relatively simple: to usher in a cross-profession model for quality work experience for the kind of teenagers that rarely have their eyes opened to the possibility of a career in law.

I guess I owe the industry a partial apology on this one, as I have said before that City law firms' thinking on the issue is confused and that they care enough to wring their hands about social mobility, but not enough to do anything about it. On the former point I still have doubts, but on the latter, fair enough - this is surely an admirable attempt to do something constructive, in that it looks well thought-out and credible enough in scale to have an impact. It's only a start, yes, but it looks like a good start.

Yet judging by some of the reactions to the venture, it seems some people don't see it like that. The concern seems to be that the venture is overdoing it on the social mobility front, targeting its efforts at the least privileged in society, when they should be going after the averagely privileged or moderately under-privileged - the bright kids from the suburbs who only need a push and nudge. On this reading, the venture is either a politically correct mish-mash dreamed up by the naive or the manipulations of cynical law firms looking for good PR.

I've noticed this strain of thought before in the debate surrounding access to the profession, and it's very ugly. It speaks to a poisonous lack of empathy in society that is unfortunately all too common and is probably getting more so. Under this view, the poor kids from the inner city are beyond saving. They should be written off (a strange number of posters on legal websites seem to be making references to the racial make-up of the children that will be on this scheme, as if that's a problem).

This is drivel. If you're trying to solve a problem, the logical thing is to start where the need is greatest. And if no attempt is made to reach out to the least privileged in society then what can you expect from that society beyond dysfunction, mistrust and a high crime rate.

It's almost certainly true that if law firms used such a work experience scheme to target those at bog-standard rather than failing schools, then they would be more likely to unearth future lawyers. But such calculations are those of the labour market, not social inclusion. PRIME isn't designed to help law firms win the war for talent, it is billed as an attempt to contribute to social mobility.

Will PRIME work? Well, it was drawn up in consultation with charities like the Sutton Trust that bring far more knowledge of these matters than law firms. Even so, and even with so many law firms involved, its impact will probably be limited if it doesn't widen considerably in scale across the legal industry and lead to changes in behaviour within law firms themselves. But if that does happen - and increased contact with a wider group of society leads firms to rethink a few of their pre-conceptions during the recruitment process - it will have a chance of having a real impact.

(As it happens I suspect this scheme could ultimately unlock some moderate but not inconsiderable economic advantages for the law firms backing it in terms of staff retention and widening their labour pool at key points, though that shouldn't be why firms commit to it and those benefits should not be oversold).

Like all these schemes, there will be a considerable amount of trial and error if it's to work - logistics to iron out, ideas that work on paper but not in the field. It will certainly take time to achieve anything like its potential.

It also seems highly significant that the industry has set aside its usual lack of co-operation for once to come together and show some collective leadership. There's no doubt that the legal profession's inability to do so before has often limited its role in the wider community - so this looks a positive development for the profession as much as step forward for social inclusion.

As such, let's for once park the cynicism and wish these 23 law firms every success with this venture. They aren't perfect, most of them will have made mistakes and a few have even previously made hard-nosed or plain mean-spirited decisions, but that doesn't invalidate this effort. Let's hope they sign up many more law firms and schools and that this venture is the start of something much, much bigger. After all, if as a business you can realistically do something to help, why wouldn't you?

Click here to visit the PRIME website.

For more, see:

• Look beyond the usual suspects and change the face of work experience
• 23 major law firms come together for ground-breaking diversity initiative