Slaughter and May named ‘Employer of the Year’ at the Student Social Mobility Awards

International Law firm Slaughter and May has been named ‘Employer of the Year’ at the 2024 Student Social Mobility Awards.

The awards are hosted by social mobility charity upReach, which supports students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Slaughter and May has been working with upReach since 2019.

The Employer of the Year award recognises an organisation ‘that is leading the way on improving social mobility in the UK, pioneering ways to make itself more accessible and inclusive to individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds’.

Social Mobility Working Group Chair, Partner Andrew Jolly, who attended the event said, “It was an honour to win the Employer of the Year award and celebrate all the incredible work organisations and students are doing to further social mobility. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners.”

Partner Richard Swallow was also nominated for ‘best mentor’, in recognition of his efforts in the area.

Slaughter and May’s partnership with upReach supports 80 undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds annually through the upReach Law Springboard programme. Each year from the Law Springboard cohort, the firm offers 10 scholarships, providing financial support to undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds throughout their university career.

The firm also works with younger students, funding the National Literacy Trust Young Readers programme at two local primary schools, GCSE and A-Level tutoring and university access support for 80 students at Central Foundation Boys’ School. It also deliver two work insight and skills development programmes for 16–18-year-olds – virtual programme Excellerators and Lead in to Law.

Last year, the firm became the first major law firm to set social mobility targets, and also published Making and Measuring Progress: Setting targets for socio-economic background, to assist other organisations with this task.

Slaughter and May has also launched Picture Change, a social mobility podcast series designed to shed light on expert views on the subject.