This discussion will highlight how diversity is more than gender and race and why inclusion is not just socially and morally the right thing to do, but it is also good for business.
The panellists will share their views on how inclusion can be used as a tool, from supporting the talent pipeline in the attraction of new talent, to retaining it, and more. Plus, they’ll examine how clients, law firms, and individuals, can follow through on their commitment to inclusion by taking positive steps to make law firms more inclusive places to work and do business with.
Speakers:
Gayathri Kamalanathan, Partner, Slaughter and May
Gayathri has extensive experience in handling complex domestic and cross-border investigations and litigation. She has more than a decade of leading-edge experience from senior in-house roles at banks as well as over 9 years in private practice advising corporates and financial institutions across a broad spectrum of contentious regulatory, litigation and arbitration matters.
Most recently, Gayathri was Head of Group Litigation and Enforcement at Danske Bank in Copenhagen where she played a lead role in managing the bank’s ongoing investigations by regulators and criminal prosecutors in multiple jurisdictions including in relation to its former Estonian branch. Prior to that, Gayathri was UK Head of Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement for Deutsche Bank, managing a broad range of litigation matters and cross border regulatory investigations, including in relation to LIBOR.
Gayathri is listed in Global Investigation Review’s Top 100 Women in Investigations 2021, was nominated for Rising Star In-House Counsel of the year (2018) in the Legal 500’s Legal Business Awards and was included in the Financial News’ 40 under 40 Rising Stars in Legal Services, 2013.
Jonathan Andrews, Associate, Reed Smith
Jonathan is an associate in the Entertainment and Media team at Reed Smith and a strong advocate for fair access to the legal profession. As well as serving as a trustee of Ambitious about Autism and co-chair of the Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network, Jonathan was recognised in 2020 as the fourth most influential disabled person in the UK and in 2018 as the Open University’s youngest-ever honorary graduate. In 2021 he is serving as a judge of the Shaw Trust Disability Power List and Law Society’s Diversity Access Scheme
Nathan Charnock, Associate, Allen & Overy
Nathan Charnock is an Associate in Allen & Overy’s Commercial practice in London and is one of the firm’s Social Mobility Champions. He attended a state comprehensive school in Chorley, Lancashire and was the first in his family to go to University. Nathan was introduced to the legal profession aged 16, through a social mobility scheme called Pathways to Law and as a result, he is passionate about broadening access to the legal profession.
Moderator:
Sharon Glynn, Senior Development Underwriter, Bond & Specialty Insurance, Travelers Europe
Sharon is a qualified solicitor and worked in private practice as a professional indemnity lawyer before joining the claims team at Travelers. As a Senior Claim Professional, Sharon was responsible for handling the claims of the largest law firms. In 2018, Sharon moved to the Underwriting Team at Travelers and is now a Large Law Firm Lead Underwriter. In addition to underwriting, Sharon is co-chair of the Women’s Diversity Network for Travelers Europe and sits on the Gender Inclusion Network and ISC Dementia group committees.
Chairperson:
Matt Byrne, Deputy Editor, The Lawyer
Matt Byrne is deputy editor at The Lawyer and writes news, features and opinion articles on a range of topics related to the business of law. In particular, Matt leads the editorial teams for major data-led reports including the UK 200, the US Top 50 and the Global Litigation 50 and has presented numerous live webinars and roundtable panel discussions on topical industry issues. Matt ran The Lawyer’s New York office between 2007 and 2009.
