Neurodiversity

James Smither, Head of Risk Management, co-founded the Legal Neurodiversity Network (LNN) in 2023 with the aim of raising awareness of neurodiversity within the legal industry and pushing practices that ensure the industry is more neuro-inclusive. Reflecting on the LNN’s short history, James paints a picture of remarkable growth. ‘We’ve only been going just over a year – we launched the LNN during Neurodiversity Celebration Week in 2023,’ he recounts. ‘Since then, we’ve grown massively. When we started it was just five people in a room wondering whether we could get others in the legal profession to work together on this rather than us all having separate initiatives. Now we have over 75 law firms and another 10 or so other organisations (including in-house teams) around the table for our quarterly calls, and close to 200 people on our mailing lists.’

As well as expanding their reach beyond London into the UK’s regions, James has also engaged with lawyers, changemakers and allies internationally and offered support in establishing similar networks in the US, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong.

Through regular social events, advocacy efforts, and knowledge sharing programmes, the LNN has become a beacon of support and empowerment for neuro-inclusion across the legal profession (including the Bar, and in-house legal teams), fostering connections and sharing best practices to improve the experience of neurodivergent employees and those wishing to access the sector.

The Buckland Review: a milestone for neurodiverse employment

One of the pivotal moments of the year came with the publication by the UK government of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment. James spearheaded the LNN’s and Freshfields’ involvement in the Review and brought together key stakeholders from the legal sector to address the underrepresentation of autistic individuals in the workforce. By facilitating roundtable discussions and providing actionable recommendations, James and others involved have laid the groundwork for meaningful change within the legal industry and wider society. ‘Now the hard work starts,’ says James. ‘We’ve done incredible work in identifying the challenges; now we have to commit to implementing important changes needed to remove them.’

The Neurodiversity Working Group: leading by example

Meanwhile, within Freshfields, the Enabled UK Neurodiversity Working Group (NWG), established in late 2022 by Laura Minnock (HR Business Partner, Co-Chair of the Enabled Network and Chair of the working group) and Reena Parmar (Counsel, previous Co-chair of the Enabled Network and Chair of the Law Society of England & Wales Disabled Solicitors Network), has continued to gain momentum. Laura explains, ‘We regularly collaborate with D&I and the firm’s leadership to support tangible improvements to embed neuro-inclusive good practice into the ways we work and support our people.’  

During a 2023 panel discussion on the theme of ‘Supporting Neurodivergent Colleagues to Thrive’, one key takeaway was around showing vulnerable leadership, which Laura explains is about ‘leaders coming forward and being open with their own lived experiences, whether in relation to neurodiversity or anything else where they’ve had to overcome a level of adversity or faced variable obstacles in their working career.’ Laura noted that ‘although it can be daunting, there is something really comforting seeing leaders being open and breaking down the illusion of perfection, to promote a more psychologically safe working environment and normalise difference. We’ve already seen some fantastic examples of this within Freshfields and I’m looking forward to seeing what further progress we make.’

With a focus on raising awareness, fostering community, and advocating for neurodivergent individuals (diagnosed and self-identified) and for parent-carers of neurodivergent family members, the NWG has implemented a range of initiatives to create a more inclusive workplace environment.

Tangible policy changes: benefits and accessibility

Crucially, the NWG’s efforts extend beyond mere awareness-raising to tangible policy changes and structural improvements. ‘Our benefits in the UK now include pathways to diagnosis of neurodivergent conditions in our private health offering,’ Laura shares, illustrating the firm's commitment to expediting support for our colleagues and their families. ‘We had an individual at the firm whose child had been waiting over a year for a diagnosis on the NHS. They used the firm’s private health service and received a full diagnosis within six weeks of starting the process. The change that has made for that colleague and their child is incredible and we continue to hear similar positive stories.’

Leveraging her role in HR, Laura has advocated for a number of neuro-inclusive initiatives, from bespoke neurodiversity training programmes, dedicated support groups, improving accessibility in existing and new offices, to assisting the Global Leadership Team and Recruitment team with neuro-inclusive recruitment and interviewing best practices. ‘We want to embed these changes into the future state of how we work to normalise neuro-inclusivity and create a more equitable environment for all current and future colleagues. Where we do makes changes that are initially designed as neuro-inclusive best practice, we are continuing to see that they often benefit the wider population too.’

Looking ahead, both James and Laura remain resolute in their mission to advance neuro-inclusion. ‘Neurodivergence has always existed,’ says James, ‘but the focus on it has really ramped up in the last few years, particularly in the last two years. Freshfields – along with so many other organisations – still has a way to go, but the one good thing is that we’re not alone in that and there is real shared desire to improve in this space.’