Putting culture, diversity, and CSR at our core

Working at Osborne Clarke is not only about learning to be great lawyers, it is also about learning to be responsible citizens.

Diversity is one of the most highly prized attributes of Osborne Clarke.

But knowing that a diverse workplace doesn’t necessarily mean an inclusive one, we’re committed to uncovering our blind spots and making sure everyone enjoys the same opportunities regardless of who they are, who they love or where they come from.

Through our internal networks and alongside our partnerships with external organisations such as Stonewall and Rare we aim to highlight and address inequalities and ensure Osborne Clarke is a workplace that works for everybody.

Our Inclusion Allies programmes enhances cultural understanding and empowers colleagues across the firm to be active allies. Our senior leaders, including the Executive and Operational Boards, are engaged in reverse mentoring to better understand the diverse workplace experiences of all colleagues.

• Signing up to the Women in Law Pledge
• Signing both the Race at Work Charter and the Race Fairness Commitment
• Implementing the RARE contextual recruitment system
• Achieved Stonewall Top 100 status in 2024
• Being certified by the UK National Equality Standard
• Signing up to the Mindful Business Charter
• Joining Working Families and Carers UK to help us implement flexible and family friendly business practices
• Members of the myPLUS recruiters club, ensuring that our recruitment process is accessible for everyone

We’re also committed to ensuring our office, technology and recruitment processes remain as accessible as possible, making reasonable changes to accommodate differing needs – whether that’s physical disabilities, or in relation to neuro-diversities such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism. If you require any adjustments to participate in our recruitment process, let us know and we’ll do all we can to support you.

The OC networks are part of a broader set of aims and activities which are captured in three pillars, under our over-arching OC for Good initiative.

Being a Good Employer is the first pillar, encompassing – among other things – our D&I objectives. Being a Good Corporate Citizen the second, while the third focuses on doing Good Business. Within each of these areas there are countless initiatives and projects with fantastic opportunities for you to get involved with the issues lying closest to your heart. Have other ideas about what we could be doing? We’ll want to hear them. Because within this rapidly evolving space there’s always going to be ways to do things better.

We take our responsibilities to society seriously and try to make a difference across four areas of impact: education, environment, equality and poverty.

The dedication and passion of our volunteers has had real and measurable impact across our wider community, as well as within the firm, and we’re incredibly proud of what they’ve achieved.

Pro-bono

Providing everyone with equal access to justice plays an important role in the building and growth of societies, allowing people to better understand and use the law and legal services in the protection of their rights. Obviously as a law firm we’re ideally placed to offer greater access to justice through pro-bono advice and support, and as an Osborne Clarke employee you can volunteer with organisations such as Z2K and the Bristol Law Centre.

Environment: supporting a sustainable future

Climate change is here, and no other single factor will determine the future of our world more than this. It’s why we’ve made Decarbonisation one of the pillars of our client offering. But recognising that responsibility starts at home, as a firm we’re committed to doing whatever we can to operate more sustainably. Active over the last 15 years, OC’s colleague-led Sustainable Business Group (OC Planet) has been instrumental in identifying and implementing changes to how we operate that reduce the firm’s carbon footprint, conserve our use of natural resources and encourage sustainable behaviour and business practices. We are also one of a few UK law firms to announce our commitment to science based targets as part of our Net Zero Strategy.

Education: a powerful route to empowerment

Education offers those who may be economically and socially marginalized the opportunity to rise above their individual circumstances and participate fully within society. With this in mind, we support a wide range of educational organisations with whom you can volunteer your time, including our flagship program ‘The Bridge’ with a local school which aims to provide career inspiration and employability skills to support the next generation.

We work to make sure that we do business in a fair and sustainable way. That means committing to ethical procurement, fair supplier management, an open dialogue with our stakeholders and good governance.