Law firm sets ambitious target for female representation at partner level

Bristol law firm TLT has introduced a new target to achieve 50% female representation at partner level by 2029.

The announcement builds on TLT’s success in improving diversity and inclusion in senior roles, having achieved 33% female representation at partner level in 2023, two years ahead of its 2025 target.

The new target forms a central part of TLT’s plans with equality, diversity, inclusion and wellness remaining a core pillar of the firm’s strategy. These fresh ambitions – grounded in data and endorsed by the firm’s Women’s Equality Network (WEN) – will see TLT prioritise health and wellbeing to support the professional development of women.

TLT will achieve this by expanding and enhancing its market-leading initiatives including offering colleagues a flexible approach to working, top-tier family support and later in life programmes, and a pioneering wellbeing programme with private health care and a cash back plan to support mental health and wellbeing.

Alongside the health and wellbeing programme, the firm will continue to invest in initiatives to diversify early career roles through partnerships and a robust recruitment strategy.

Since introducing its gender strategy in 2019 in collaboration with WEN, TLT has focused on introducing equalising measures to ensure there are equal opportunities to progress in the firm. These initiatives have resulted in women accounting for 66% of partner promotions at TLT in the last three years.

Helen Hodgkinson, chief people officer at TLT said: “Progressing female talent into top positions at TLT continues to be a priority. Progressing the female health agenda and acknowledging that women’s health differs from their male counterparts are essential in making sure all our women can have a long and successful career. Our plans for the next five years, as we work towards this significant milestone, will focus on enhancing and developing our wellbeing policies and approaches to ensure we’re giving women every possible chance to succeed, which we will continue to support with our focus on flexibility.

“As part of our ambitions to improve diversity in senior positions, we remain committed to attracting women in our lateral partner hiring, an area in which we have seen outstanding progress in the last twelve months.”

Nina Searle, partner and sponsor of TLT’s Women’s Equality Network commented: “We are really proud of how far we have come in diversifying our top roles at TLT. Setting this new target marks the next step in our journey and is vital to our success for two key reasons. One we want to show the next generation of women that TLT will offer them ample opportunities to progress their careers as far as they want to and that the firm will support them every step of the way. And two, we need to ensure that we understand and are representative of the clients that we serve. Although we still have a long way to go, we are treading the right path to being one of the most progressive and diverse law firms in the UK.”