DWS's diversity: better late than never

News reaches The Lawyerthat Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS)
is finally going to appoint a partner who will have
specific responsibility for diversity.

So far, seven volunteers have stepped forward, with chief
executive Howard Morris expected to make a decision on the
appointment in the next few weeks.

Most firms have already appointed a ‘diversity captain’, so one wonders why it has taken so long for DWS to catch up. To be fair,the firm has had other pressing concerns to deal with over the past 12 months (poor profitability and high-level partner defections to name a few). But Morris, and the majority of his peers, must not stop here. If firms are not to be viewed as just paying lip service to the idea of diversity, much more needs to be done.

DWS has yet to publish its diversity statistics. The diversity partner, then, needs to be able to give an open and honest assessment of the firm and gain support from management whenm changes need to be made.