D&I Highlights from Chambers Latin America 2021

The 2021 edition of Chambers Latin America is our most comprehensive guide yet. As we continuously enhance our research process in line with the latest technology, sector developments and client needs, we are delighted to now include more in-depth coverage of ranked firms and individuals than ever before.

An important issue we have been addressing is the diversity of our rankings. We have updated the submission document template to include diversity statistics, enabling us to clearly measure the presence of diverse lawyers in each department within a law firm for the first time. We also trialled a new research initiative in Colombia and Argentina during the 2021 cycle, allowing for more opportunities to discuss the Latin American market with female lawyers.

This has been carried out in conjunction with all research teams receiving D&I training and addressing the impact of gendered language in editorial. This is part of an ongoing initiative to enhance our research processes and ensure they are free from unconscious bias.

These changes build on the D&I initiatives we have rolled out in Latin America, with seminars taking place since 2014 and this year’s digital ceremony, taking place on 3rd December, representing the fifth iteration of the Chambers D&I Awards: Latin America. It has been fantastic to highlight best practice in many places and we look forward to celebrating those organisations and individuals continuing to trailblaze a path for progress.

As a consequence of this positive action taken by our editorial, D&I and leadership teams, we have seen a 3% increase in female ranked lawyers across the whole Latin America guide over the last five years. Our findings in 2021 show that female practitioners hold 19% of the individual rankings across the guide, when considering all rankings in all practice areas in 20 jurisdictions, plus our Latin America-wide rankings. These results are positive but we know there remains a long way to go to ensure our rankings are reflective of the diversity of the profession.

Collaborating to collect and track D&I data is essential to making progress in this respect, and particularly for our rankings to reflect the breadth of talent in the legal profession across Latin American. By working together on this vital movement, together we can achieve this goal.