Liedekerke's Diversity Policy

Liedekerke’s Diversity Policy

At Liedekerke, we are committed to eliminating discrimination and promoting diversity and inclusion. We believe having a diverse workforce and striving for equality will not only improve our impact on society and the community in which we operate, but also improve our firm's culture and performance.

We endeavour, on a daily basis, to create an environment at our firm in which people are treated equally and with respect, regardless of their gender, race, religion or belief, affectional and sexual orientation, disability or age.

We do so by imposing specific diversity policies and procedures in all departments and business units, particularly in the recruitment and evaluation process of both lawyers and support staff, as well as in our relations with suppliers and other third parties.

• We attract talent from the widest possible pool and make an effort to recruit lawyers and staff members from different backgrounds and nationalities. Our lawyers and staff are from various ethnic backgrounds (currently some 20% of our staff is of non-Belgian origin) and collectively we speak no fewer than 11 languages.

• Some of our lawyers work on a voluntary basis at the Royal Institute IRSA, which is the largest Centre in Belgium for teaching and education for people with impaired vision, speech and hearing.

• One of our recent flagship Pro Bono projects was the legal support we provided to the 2014 Special Olympics European Summer games. The Games provided a lasting legacy of inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities in Belgium.

   Read more here.

At Liedekerke, we have also been at the forefront of addressing the issue of gender balance in private practice for many years now. Like most firms, we have also struggled to keep talented female lawyers on board and on the partnership track. Through internal policies and an active role in various initiatives (see below), we have been pushing this agenda and are now achieving tangible results. The percentage of female partners has been on the rise; over 65% of our senior associates and over 50% of our counsel are now female. Equally, 50% of our business service managers are female.

For many years now, our firm has participated in and supported a variety of initiatives, including:

CONTACT

Diversity officer: Christel Van den Eynden