Follow us

Herbert Smith Freehills’ Alternative Legal Services Belfast team has won two awards at this year’s Northern Ireland Equality & Diversity Awards.

Recognised for its commitment to building a diverse and inclusive culture, the team has been recognised for ‘Best LGBT Initiative’ and ‘Best Employer for Equality and Diversity in Northern Ireland’ – the latter in the ‘small company’ category.
 
The ‘Best LGBT Initiative Award’ recognised the creativity and leadership demonstrated by the Belfast office’s IRIS (LGBTI) network for its collaboration with local LGBTI artists, US Folk, to develop artwork that encapsulated their vision of equality and inclusion. It also recognised the success of their outreach, achieved by ensuring the artwork was displayed on T-shirts and banners at Belfast Pride 2019.
 
In winning the ‘Best Employer for Equality and Diversity in Northern Ireland’, the success of the team in building awareness, understanding and offering support across a wide variety of active groups was acknowledged.  The team was recognised for its ability to focus on a broad range of issues, including gender equity, multiculturalism, LGBTI, families and mental health.
 
Lisa McLaughlin, partner in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Alternative Legal Services team, said: “Our team should be incredibly proud that they continue to lead the way on many  important issues and that, together, we demonstrate our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion. These awards are very well-deserved recognition of the special culture we have created in our Belfast office and the energy and enthusiasm so many of our team bring to work each day.  They also signify our commitment to being part of the firm’s drive to be the leading global law firm for diversity and inclusion.” 
 
The awards, run by Legal Island, are being announced via social media during September 2020. More details can be found here.

Media contact

For further information on this article please contact

Mike Petrook

Communications Manager

London