DEI Awards FAQs

For over a decade, the Chambers DEI Awards have marked, celebrated and showcased the best in DEI, pro bono, CSR and environmental work from firms around the world. Having originally launched as Women in Law Awards in the USA, we now hold DEI Awards in six different jurisdictions, including Latin America, Brazil, Europe, Asia Pacific and the UK Bar.

Every year we receive hundreds of thousands of words in applications from firms across our different categories. With firms frequently dedicating significant time to filling out the nominations, we receive questions on everything from simple procedures to comprehensive enquiries about how we assess the information.

With this in mind, our two DEI Managers (who lead the shortlisting process) sat down to discuss how they winnow down the hundreds of submissions, including their top tips, key pitfalls they often see and how to make your application stand out.

Honestly it’s a big task, but you can’t help but be inspired reading about the incredible work the legal community has been doing over the last year. We know that the individuals and firms that submit share our immense passion for creating a more diverse, inclusive and equitable society and so are committed to ensuring we give each heartfelt nomination it’s due consideration.

Fundamentally we always return to the five criteria which every submission is judged by, detailed on our submission guidelines. Each application receives a mark out of ten for its breadth, commitment, impact, advancement and originality (expanded on below), with the highest overall marks considered for our shortlist. 

A random selection of the nominations in each category are moderated by another member of the team to ensure the marks are fair. At this stage we also bring in the written statements from referees, which might affect the scores (particularly around impact). From there, we decide on the shortlist of nominees who exemplify best in class work.

When it actually tackles all five areas! The nominations which invariably make it to the shortlist are those which demonstrate excellence in every area we assess. It’s worth remembering that the level of commitment to DEI has increased significantly in recent years, so the bar is set tremendously high. With such fierce competition, careful attention to the criteria really does pay off.

Nominations also need to actively talk about the outcomes of initiatives. This fits into both the Impact and Advancement criteria, and can be demonstrated through statistics or testimonials (either quantitative or qualitative data).

Yes! To start with, we frequently see nominations that are too long, and to ensure fairness we’re only able to assess the information provided within the word limit. It wouldn’t be right for us to consider anything above 1,000 and that often that means that some of a nominations most interesting work cannot be considered.

Some nominations also focus on the history of a programme or an individual’s work, as opposed to what’s been done in the last twelve months. While we welcome some context, our Awards run annually so we predominantly focus on the last year’s activity.

Another oddity is nominations that include no more than a sentence or two of supporting information. As we’ve said, the competition is incredibly strong so it’s really impossible for such a nomination to make the shortlist.

Lastly, some nominations go into significant detail about the core legal practice of an individual. While it always makes interesting reading, the day-to-day practice of nominees does not count towards the awards we judge. Overall, we highly advise firms to read the nomination guidelines! It’s usually very clear when firms have done this and their submissions absolutely stand out from the crowd.

We’re absolutely passionate about ensuring the awards process runs as equitably as possible. With this in mind, we’ve introduced questions asking about firm size and the number of legal and non-legal staff to ensure we can be as fair as possible. Our team carefully consider the relevant variables, and do our best to ensure individuals and firms at all stages of their journey are appropriately recognised.

First we take some time away from the material, so that we’re able to approach it with fresh eyes for that crucial final stage. When we return to the shortlist, the team will reread the submissions and referee statements for each of the top contenders. What follows is a spirited debate between the team: while the final three are decided by the numerical scores the last stage of the process comes down to the expertise of our team. We also work closely with our practice area research teams to utilise their deep knowledge of the market.

No, there is no cost to participate.

Participation in the DEI Categories will not affect your overall rankings or other Award decisions.

Testimonials and quotes from Client Referees are used to judge submissions that we are considering for the shortlist. Accordingly, we highly recommend firms take the time to include a quote: this makes the submission far more competitive.

We require five client references in total for each submission, not five for each category. It’s helpful to note whether a referee is for a specific category or for multiple awards.

As with all referees submitted to Chambers, whether for the DEI Awards or in our regular practice area submission process, these details are treated with the highest level of confidentiality.

Unfortunately not! Firms need to decide on one individual for each category who they think has achieved above and beyond on DEI work over the last year.

The one exception to this would be where team members have jointly run a programme, who firms might want to submit together. However the strongest applications invariably involve individuals who have contributed to the legal community across multiple projects or programmes, so we’d encourage firms to consider other work each of the individuals in question and whether, bearing that in mind, a nomination for one might be stronger.

Unsurprisingly, the best way to get involved is by filling out the nomination! Whether it’s your first year or you’ve submitted every year, we always encourage participation.

You can also collaborate with Chambers through sponsorship of the Awards or a seminar around the ceremony. With the most passionate and engaged diversity advocates from across the legal community in one space, it’s an opportunity not to be missed.