Equality & Diversity
Wilberforce Chambers is committed to equal opportunities in all aspects of its work. All barristers are committed to observing the Bar Standards Board’s Equality and Diversity Rules of the Code of Conduct in relation to non-discrimination in the acceptance of work, the carrying out of that work and all dealings with clients, colleagues, staff and others. Staff are committed to complying with this policy.
It is our policy to treat everyone equally and fairly regardless of their racial group, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, religion or political persuasion.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Wilberforce maintains a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Through our Bar Access Programme we are actively involved in outreach and access initiatives to encourage and support people from diverse backgrounds in developing a career at the Bar.
An important element of the Bar Access Programme is our on-going partnership with The Sutton Trust (the well-known charitable foundation whose aim is to promote social mobility) through which we support their various initiatives in the legal arena. For example, we continue to run mini-pupillage/placement programmes for their Pathways to Law pupils and Pathways Plus students and a number of our Members are actively involved in a mentoring programme for Sutton Trust students.
Nicholas Luckman, our Practice Director, is a Business Board Member of Support Through Court, a charity dedicated to providing free, independent assistance to people facing proceedings without legal representation.
Wilberforce is recognised as a Silver Pro Bono Patron by Advocate. This is a reflection of the organisational support we provide Advocate to help hundreds of people achieve fair and equal access to justice.
Wilberforce Chambers is proud to be an accredited London Living Wage employer. This means that all employees are paid at or above a minimum wage which is set annually by the Living Wage Foundation and calculated by the Greater London Authority. The living wage is higher than the minimum wage and calculated according to the basic cost of actually living in London.
In May 2024, The Bar Council awarded Wilberforce Chambers a Wellbeing Certificate of Recognition for “invaluable work demonstrating commitment to wellbeing in the barristers’ profession”. The Bar Council remarked, “Wilberforce Chambers’ continuous work and dedication to wellbeing is very impressive.”
Wilberforce Chambers also recently received a Chancery Bar Charter for Fairness accreditation, which recognises our formal commitment to seeking to achieve fairness in work allocation, career development, marketing and earnings for female barristers.
We are proud signatories to the Women in Law Pledge created by the Bar Council of England and Wales, The Law Society, and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). We are committed to the progress of equality, elimination of sex discrimination and pledge to make positive change for the legal profession.
We have also built strong relationships with the Legal Social Mobility Partnership, and the Pegasus and Bar Placement (Social Mobility Foundation) programmes, and provide support to the Barristers’ Benevolent Association.
Wilberforce Chambers has a Parental Leave Policy with the following key features:
- All members of Chambers are entitled to take up to twelve months parental leave upon the birth or adoption of a child
- A full waiver of all room rent charges during parental leave
- A full waiver of all receipts-based expenses during the first six months of parental leave, subject to a graduated liability for expenses relative to the amount of work (if any) the member chooses to do during their first six months of parental leave
- Deferred payment of all receipts-based expenses during parental leave
- The option to further defer payment of all expenses for an additional six-month period following a member’s return from parental leave, with incremental payment of the outstanding balance by reference to receipts for up to twelve months from return
- A commitment from Chambers to carefully manage a member’s practice both prior to commencing parental leave and on their return to work after parental leave with practice team meetings to support and assist the member