Six law firms collaborate to support launch of the Black Equity Organisation, the UK’s new national Black British civil rights organisation

London – Law firms Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills, and Slaughter and May have collaborated to assist with the development and launch of the Black Equity Organisation (BEO), a new national and independent civil rights group created to advance justice and equity for Black people in Britain.

The BEO is founded by some of the UK’s most influential Black leaders from the worlds of business, law, arts and social justice. In support of the BEO, together, the six firms provided seed funding and legal advice focusing on operational and governance issues and registration of the new organisation with the Charity Commission – all on a pro bono basis.

Initiated in 2020 in the wake of the global George Floyd protests and the spotlight on the racial inequalities for Black people, the BEO has been formed to take a data-driven approach in promoting economic, political and social equity for Black communities in Britain, in order to ensure equal opportunity for progress and prosperity. Along with the six core law firm supporters, the BEO has also has the backing of WPP and Sky amongst others.

In support of the organisation, the six law firms have provided strategic, financial and advisory support, as part of a commitment to work towards tackling racism in the UK.

Partnering with organisations in the private, public and non-profit sectors to address issues of structural racism, the BEO aims to tackle the six key mandates:

• Economic empowerment & equity of opportunity - to ensure Black communities are economically empowered and have the same professional and career opportunities as others.
• Education - to close the education attainment gap that exists between Black and White children in the UK throughout school and university, with knock-on effects in the labour-force.
• Justice, immigration & rights – to remove the sources of racial discrimination and eliminate disparities Black individuals experience within the criminal justice system.
• Culture, awareness & respect – to build broad public awareness of the existence of systemic racism in British society and its impact on Black communities to galvanize public support , outrage and commitment to eliminate sources of systemic racism.
• Health, wellness & care – to achieve health equality for all Black people in the UK including a healthy life and high-quality freely available health care, with equal outcomes irrespective of race.
• Housing and community – to address and remove the economic, structural and political barriers that contribute to the vast overrepresentation of Black people in rented and social accommodation and underrepresentation in privately owned accommodation.

BEO’s Chair of Trustees, Dame Vivian Hunt said: “Our partner law firms were among the first organisations to join us in our journey. By devoting their time, expertise and passion they have played a vital role in the establishment the Black Equity Organisation (BEO). We look forward to deepening our partnerships with each of these law firms, and indeed others that wish to work with BEO, as together we work towards equity for Black Britons and broader society. We’d like to publicly thank these law firms for all that they have done."

Uzma Hamid-Dizier, Director of Responsible Business at Slaughter and May, said: “We are pleased to have been able to contribute to the creation of the BEO through a cross-sector approach to funding and pro bono legal support. We are hopeful that the charity will bring a lasting change to improve the lived experience of Black people in the UK and help us move to a more equal society. Our involvement with BEO is based on our commitment to race fairness, inside our firm, our sector and society as whole. The focus of the charity intrinsically links with the work that we are been doing as the Co-Chairs of Legal CORE, a cross-law firm collaboration group with over 30 firms to increase the representation of ethnic minorities in the legal sector and our partnership target to ensure that ethnic minorities make up 15% of all promotions in 2020-25, across London and Brussels. The launch of BEO is significant and will amplify activities on race fairness across and outside the sector.”

Samay Shah, sponsoring Partner for Slaughter and May's work with BEO, says: “It has been recognised that a greater focus is needed on the elimination of racial discrimination across a variety of sectors. We are pleased to be able to support BEO with both funding and pro bono support, along with other contributing law firms, to get BEO to the point of launch and beyond.”

For more information about BEO please visit the BEO website – www.blackequityorg.com