Chambers Brazil Policies of Inclusion
Discover how Chambers Brazil works to implement diversity and inclusion within our legal rankings.
Striving and working for a fair market assessment
At Chambers Brazil we take great care with Diversity and Inclusion, both internally and externally. One of our initiatives is to monitor gender representation in every guide we publish to ensure we are leading the charger in furthering the need for diversity and inclusion within the legal market. We present the data and work to take appropriate initiatives so that our rankings fairly reflect the reality of the market.
A positive increase in the number of women ranked
The latest guide for Industries & Sectors showed that the percentage of women ranked in the 14 areas covered by this guide increased from 23% to 26%. For more insights into this data and the diversity stats for the Chambers Brazil: Industries, Sectors and Regions 2021 guide please click here.
The increase is an indication that more women are being recognised by the market. The biggest gap is at the top of the pyramid, with only 12% of female lawyers in Band 1, a percentage similar to last year.
However, one sign that the situation may be changing is the increasing proportion of female lawyers as Associate to Watch and Up-and-Coming. In these categories the percentage of female lawyers rises from 32% to 44% when compared to last year.
Chambers Brazil commitment to providing a fair and equal opportunity
One of our initiatives to ensure a fair coverage is our efforts to interview as many women as men to mitigate the effects of unconscious bias. The Chambers leave policy is another initiative to ensure a fair assessment. Lawyers retain their banded ranking during the period of their maternity or parental leave. Primary caregivers retain their ranking for two years, while secondary caregivers do so for one year. In the case of health-related absence, lawyers maintain their ranking for at least one year. That is why we encourage all submitting firms to include information about their lawyers' absent leave in the submission form which can be downloaded here.
Law firms can also disclose information about their D&I policies and statistics in the Chambers Submission Form. It is important to mention that information about D&I numbers and initiatives implemented by firms are not considered for ranking decisions. However, client feedback considering such policies valuable to a good client service will certainly count to the evaluation.
Overall, collaboration to collect and track D&I data is of great help to making progress in this area, enabling us to benchmark and ensure our rankings are reflective of the breadth of diversity in the profession. Firms can also share information about their successful D&I initiatives by submitting to the Chambers D&I Awards, with submissions now open. Find out more here.
To learn more about Chambers dedicated Diversity & Inclusion programs please visit our D&I website here.