Page 15 - Prime - Marking Ten Years

Our Impact: Conference
open up our businesses to a much wider talent pool and in doing so, attract and recruit diverse talent The presentations, panels and discussions were unified by
the belief that PRIME, if used to its full potential, had the power to create real change in the legal profession.
“Search harder and further for talent.”
Lord Holmes of Richmond, MBE
In 2018, representatives from PRIME’s member firms gathered for our inaugural conference. The event was introduced by Lord Holmes of
Richmond MBE, lawyer and multiple gold medal winning Paralympian, who reminded us to ‘search harder and further for talent’ and that we must
‘become diverse or die’.
The event successfully engaged a wide range of stakeholders
This belief was backed by strong evidence which showed that supporting diversity and social mobility is not only a sound business decision but that it can also address deep-rooted societal inequalities.
Back then, PRIME’s member firms were not reluctant to address the areas in which the legal profession, and society in general, were falling short. They were equally unafraid to admit that more needed to be done to provide young people from different backgrounds with the opportunities to see their talent flourish.
The conference closed with the question: how can PRIME increase its impact? Discussions centred
on a wide range of topics, from improving data collection to demonstrate PRIME’s impact, to adjusting our eligibility criteria to ensure that
we reach those most in need. It has been these discussions that have driven much of PRIME’s subsequent focus.
We are looking forward to coming together at the end of this year for our next conference where we will discuss what more is required over the next ten years.
across the entire legal industry on the transformational impact of meaningful
work experience. In equal measure, it also challenged us as a profession to do more to