31/10/2023
Black History Month 2023
This Black History Month, we at Old Square Chambers have been sharing organisations that are doing incredible work to improve access to the legal profession for young black people. Below is a summary of the organisations we have celebrated over the past month:
- Bridging the Bar is a charity committed to the promotion of equal opportunities and diversity at the Bar of England and Wales. Its annual BTB Academy that has been created to support 100 high-quality candidates in obtaining the skills, tangible experience and mindset needed to secure pupillage and succeed at the Bar.
- Black Men in Law is an award-winning community for Black men working in the legal profession and those who want to enter it. On 30 October 2023, they are holding an event with Kingsley Napley for Black male students who want to get into law.
- Urban Lawyers is a charity that focuses on educating young people from underrepresented backgrounds about their legal rights as well as tackling the diversity issues within the legal profession by providing workshops, mentoring, coaching and networking.
- 10,000 Black Interns paid internships for Black students and graduates through the 10,000 Black Interns programme across a range of UK industries. Their programmes are designed to connect talented people to life-changing opportunities, including legal careers both in house and in private practice.
- Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme is designed to address the disproportionate under-representation in large commercial law firms and other City institutions of black men from less socially mobile backgrounds.
- The Bar Council have created a hub of blogs, articles and reflections of the Black perspective of life at the Bar written by Black judges, barristers and other Bar professionals.
