Baker McKenzie adds non-binary to gender targets

Baker McKenzie adds non-binary to gender targets

Claiming a first among global law firms, Baker McKenzie has introduced a 40:40:20 approach to its gender diversity targets.

The firm wants to move towards a firmwide representation of 40% women, 40% men, and 40% ‘flexible’ which can mean men, women, or non-binary genders.

The target is set for 1st July 2025 and applies to partners, senior business professionals, firm committee leadership, and recruitment candidate pools.

"We are already making great progress in many areas toward this critical goal. We have more female partners than any other law firm and for the last three years our promotions to partner have been on average 40% women,” said Jaime Trujillo, the firm’s acting global chair. “And several of our Industry Group leadership teams have at least 50% female members. Our new 40:40:20 targets will ensure that we continue to do everything possible to make sure the Firm is a fair and inclusive place to work and that we create the best environment for all our people.”

Four new partners join NRF in Australia

Norton Rose Fulbright has promoted lawyers to partner across three offices.

In the dispute resolution practice, Josh Henderson in Brisbane and Jack Pembroke-Birss make partner; while in Melbourne, Adam Smith becomes a tax partner and Luke van Grieken becomes a construction and engineering partner.

All four promotions are effective from 1st July 2019.

“The promotion of Josh, Jack, Adam and Luke to the partnership is a recognition of the excellence in client service they have been able to bring over many years across our dispute resolution and corporate practice groups,” said Wayne Spanner, NRF managing partner in Australia.

Facebook lawsuit proceeds towards trial after data breach

A lawsuit following a data breach which compromised the information of 30 million Facebook users will proceed.

The firm was hoping to avoid claims against it for negligence in keeping users’ data safe as it had promised. But a US federal court ruled last week that the lawsuit should proceed towards trial.

Facebook argued that it was not liable for thieves gaining access to user names and contact data through a cyberattack but Judge Alsup said that allowing that argument would send a message that companies that profit from using consumer data could “turn a blind eye” to security risks.