Clarke Willmott celebrates success of social mobility partnership
This year’s 2025 Social Mobility Day theme is all about ‘Shifting Mindsets’, and with that in mind, national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP is celebrating the success of its partnership with a social mobility charity over the past two years.
Since partnering with the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF), the firm has worked with dozens of sixth form and undergraduate students, assisted young people with their university applications, supported networking events and importantly, improved its own social mobility awareness within the business.
The most recent event saw representatives from the firm attend SMF’s Creating Connections events in London, Birmingham and Cardiff. The event was designed to help Year 12 students develop professional networking skills, and saw over 100 young people come together to learn more about the benefits of networking and put the new skills they learned into practice.
One of the most successful schemes has been the e-mentoring of students where mentors and mentees meet every two weeks over a period of several months, providing career and educational advice.
Lawyers and staff at the firm have reported on how enriching it has been to support these students.
Jamila Hadi, a paralegal at Clarke Willmott, said: “I became a mentor as I was the first in my family to go to university. I understood how unfamiliar the process can be, especially in the field of law, where there are so many barriers that make it harder for people from certain backgrounds to even get their foot in the door. Mentoring helps ease the pressure and gives students, like I was once, the opportunity to connect with someone in the industry and gain insight into the sector.”
Natalie Maloney, head of Onboarding at Clarke Willmott said: “I continue to mentor as I was the first person in my family to go to university and I didn’t attend a Russell Group university. When I tried to apply for training contracts over 30 years ago, it was really difficult and this hasn’t changed. Access to law is still really difficult and extremely competitive. I want to try and re-dress that balance as there is still a lot to do.
“Mentoring allows you to support students as they explore different options - there are so many different ways into law and variation within areas of practice so it can be a minefield.”
Karen Higgins, Head of ESG at Clarke Willmott, said: “Social mobility is a key priority for us. We're committed to building a diverse workforce and helping individuals from less advantaged backgrounds reach their full potential.
“Since 2023, we've taken part in the Social Mobility Foundation’s Employers Index—an annual benchmark that helps us assess and improve our efforts across eight key areas. It’s been a valuable tool in guiding our progress.
“This remains an ongoing commitment, and we’re proud to continue supporting the SMF.”
Social Mobility Foundation is a national charity which focuses on improving social mobility for aspiring young people through their Aspiring Professionals Programme.
Social Mobility Day is taking place on Thursday 12 June. This year, the theme is to #ShiftMindsets away from social mobility as simply a buzzword, and towards highlighting its positive impact on business’ productivity, creativity and the bottom line. Because ultimately, social mobility is good for business.
Clarke Willmott is a national law firm with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.
More information about Clarke Willmott’s ESG credentials visit A responsible business: where ESG values drive our legal practice
