First Law Firm Joins LGBT Great

The firm plans to partner with LGBT Great to enhance its organisational approach towards LGBT+ diversity & inclusion and engage with clients and other advisers on social sustainability issues.

Sackers has also committed to being the first law firm to complete LGBT Great’s industry-focused benchmarking tool, the Inclusion Index Benchmarking Tracker (iiBT), and it will support LGBT Great in increasing awareness of equality across the pensions industry.

LGBT Great said completion of the iiBT framework will provide Sackers with the data required to develop a more granular approach to LGBT+ inclusion. The iiBT measures across ten different DE&I indicators and is used to identify organisational strengths and opportunities for improvement. In its bid to support LGBT+ people, Sackers will also role model LGBT+ employees and supportive allies, engage with a peer-to-peer mentoring programme and work to increase awareness of different identities.

LGBT Great said that despite having a “modest” 100 employees, Sackers already has a clear diversity and inclusion strategy, which is sponsored by its executive leadership. It also noted that senior partner David Saunders is one of the few ‘out’ LGBT+ managing executives within the legal and pensions industry. In addition, a dedicated committee at the firm focuses on multiple dimensions of DE&I including LGBT+, culture, social mobility, disability, mental wellbeing, gender and ethnicity.

Sackers currently sponsors the Law Society Diversity Access Scheme, which primarily focuses on increasing social mobility but also addresses ethnicity, with 70% of applicants and 60% of successful award recipients being from BAME backgrounds. The firm is also a signatory of the Law Society’s Diversity & Inclusion Charter and a partner of the Black Interns Matter programme.

Members of Sackers have attended events hosted by the Interlaw Diversity Forum for a number of years and it joined the pensions LGBT+ network O:pen when it was established in 2020. The firm also celebrated Pride month in 2021, with Gareth Thomas leading a thought-provoking discussion which was attended by most members of staff.

Matt Cameron, global managing director of LGBT Great, commented:

“We are delighted to welcome the UK’s leading law firm to the pensions industry, Sackers, to the LGBT Great member community. This marks an important milestone in the development of our organisation and demonstrates how all corners of the pensions industry can work together in pursuit of a common goal. Sackers has already laid so many excellent foundations with regards to LGBT+ equality and we look forward to underpinning these successes to reach new heights.”

David Saunders, Senior Partner at Sackers, said:

“I am immensely proud that Sackers is an organisation that is fully committed to diversity and inclusion, and it is a huge privilege to lead a firm which has developed a welcoming environment and culture of equality for all. Our joining of the LGBT Great organisation is another clear action which demonstrates our passion and determination to support this fantastic community and to do our part in helping the pensions industry improve representation overall.”