孖士打律师事务所伦敦办公室的一名合伙人拒绝被纳入钱伯斯2020年度的一份排名，他呼吁榜单中的其他男性律师加入他的抵制行列，直到更多的女性律师在榜单中被认可。
该律所银行与金融团队的股权合伙人克里斯·阿诺德（Chris Arnold）在领英网站上向钱伯斯法律评级机构的编辑们发表了一封公开信，要求他们将他从榜单中移除，“除非女性律师至少占榜单的25%”。
阿诺德在信中写道：“今年我不会庆祝自己入选钱伯斯榜单。”他还邀请名单上的其他男性律师与他一起呼吁扩大性别多样性。
“对于其他执业领域和地区的杰出律师们，如果你们被收入了任何法律排名榜单，请花点时间思考一下：这些排名是否充分反映了你执业领域里优秀律师的多样性。如果没有，请行动起来！如果你所在的领域没有足够多的高级别女性律师，那就提拔优秀的年轻人。培养出榜样！”阿诺德写道。
近年来，多元化与包容性（D&I）已成为律师事务所都面临的一个紧迫问题。根据Hays近期发布的2019/2020亚洲多元化与包容性报告，尽管企业越来越意识到这一点，但迄今为止只取得了“微弱进展”。今年2月，孖士打律师事务所香港办公室合伙人谢昭鸿（Hong Tran）曾告诉ALB：“在多元与包容这方面，现在没有人已经做到满意的地步，所有人都在尽力赶上。”
阿诺德的发文引起了广泛关注，全球许多律师都在点赞、分享他的文章，且有多家媒体联系阿诺德发表评论。到目前为止，已有近2000人就他的文章进行了交流互动，其中包括钱伯斯的D&I负责人，他希望能和阿诺德共同讨论一下他的担忧。
钱伯斯法律评级机构是一家总部设于英国的国际权威法律评级机构，它同时出版法律学生和执业指南等相关材料。
Mayer Brown partner calls out lack of gender equality in Chambers and Partners rankings
A partner at Mayer Brown’s London office has rejected his inclusion in a Chambers and Partners 2020 raking, calling on other male lawyers included in the list to follow suite until a greater number of female lawyers are recognized.
Chris Arnold, equity partner in the firm’s banking and finance team, took to LinkedIn to post an open letter to Chambers and Partners’ editors requesting that they remove him from the rankings “until women represent at least 25% of the list”.
“I won’t be celebrating my inclusion in Chambers this year,” Arnold wrote, inviting other male lawyers on the list to join him in calling for greater gender diversity.
“For those outstanding lawyers in other sectors and regions that are ranked in any of the legal directories, please take a moment to consider whether those rankings fully reflect the diversity of talented lawyers in your field. If they do not, take action! If there are not enough senior women and diverse lawyers in your sector, promote your junior talent. Create role models!” Arnold wrote.
Diversity and inclusion has become a burning issue for law firms in recent years. Recently Hays released its 2019/2020 report on D&I in Asia, finding that while businesses were becoming more aware, this had only resulted in “marginal progression” so far. In February this year, Hong Tran of Mayer Brown’s Hong Kong office told ALB: “If you look at D&I, no one is where they want to be, and everyone is playing catch up.”
Arnold’s post gained traction as lawyers across the globe, liked or shared Arnold’s status and multiple outlets approached Arnold for comment. Close to two thousand people have interacted with his post so far, including Chambers & Partners’ D&I head who requested a meeting with Arnold to address his concerns.
Chambers & Partners is global legal rankings platform headquartered in the UK. It also publishes materials for law students and practice guides.
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