Over the last five years, the Reignite Academy has placed almost 100 “career returners” back into legal roles. Most of these women who had qualified and worked in magic circle, silver circle or US firms before taking a career break.  85% of returners went back into private practice, mostly in fee earning roles but some into knowledge, PSL, risk and compliance roles.  90% of the women placed remain with the firms they join beyond the original six months. Five Reignite alumni have made partner in their original firms or after being head hunted by other firms.

Successful returner programmes are an increasingly important way for smart law firms to access great talent and improve gender diversity at senior levels.

Why this is an important talent pool

Women join the legal profession at the same rates as men but attrition levels for women have been stubbornly high for many years, with women beginning to leave private practice at roughly 5 to 6 years’ PQE on average. 

Whilst many stay in the law, they do so at a level that is below their potential.  Others leave the law completely.  We know from experience that many are later motivated to return to their private practice legal career. This can be after a career break of anything from 2 to 20 years. 

These are women that were selected and trained by the best law firms in the country. Yes, they took time out. They are still lawyers, with exceptional experience, who are now highly motivated to return.

The Barriers to Returning

However, at that point, they often face one of three types of barriers:

1. The recruitment industry is not geared up to support people with gaps on their careers
2. Hiring partners are reluctant to take on lawyers with a career break when there are other “hit the ground running” candidates in front of them
3. The women themselves lack the confidence that they will be able to make their return a success

How Returner Programmes Work

Returner programmes aim to address all three of these barriers. They remove an element of risk for both sides by offering returners the opportunity to complete a six month period of work, in a specific role and at an agreed PQE level, with coaching and training running alongside.  At the end of the six months, the intention is that the returner will feel confident and up to speed and that the firm involved will be in a position to make their position permanent. 

Additionally, successful returner programme address all three of the barriers above:

A different approach to attraction and selection

A returner programme seeks out this “hidden talent” by targeting messaging to candidates who may be looking to return after a break. Rather than relying on a database of candidates it seeks out returning lawyers by using a novel approach, word of mouth, PR, virtual and online workshops to provide information and opportunities. 

Rather than interview and select based on recent experience, the returner programme uses a different approach – designed to identify future potential, and based on “20th Century Talent spotting” techniques.

Building Buy-In of Partners and Key Individuals

Returner programmes only work when there are partners in the firm who recognise and believe in this talent pool.  Ideally, there needs to be at least one senior partner and/or practice group leader who is willing to be a vocal and practical advocate. 

In practice, many partners have experience of having worked with colleagues they valued who they saw leave the profession and would be happy to see return. They often mention wives, sisters, friends and have personal experience to share. 

Crucially, it also helps to be able to provide real examples of women who have return to their firm or to similar firms after career breaks, who have then gone on to succeed and progress their careers.

Little wonder, then, that firms like RPC, CMS, Travers Smith, Stevens & Bolton and Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett have all benefited from recruiting multiple returners to their teams.

Building Confidence and Capability

One important feature of a returner programme is that it focuses on building the confidence of the returner themselves. 

This begins with their initial exploration of the opportunity and requires support throughout the application and interview process.  As well as addressing psychological confidence, the returner programme has to consider practical questions such as what firm to join, in which practice area, which type of role and at what level.

Where candidates are successful in securing an offer – either of a permanent or fixed term contract position – it is then critical to provide coaching and support during the transitional six month period.  In most cases this is more time consuming in the early months and ratchets down.  Coaching is best provided at several levels – by an independent coach who is neutral and experienced in returner programmes and the legal sector; by a mentor from within the firm; and also, potentially, by internal coaches within the firm itself.

Regular feedback from the partner responsible for the candidate’s progression is also an important part of this process and cannot be overlooked.

Case Study – DLA Piper Returner Programme

The Reignite Academy recently partnered with DLA Piper to offer a bespoke returner programme.  The firm wanted to show their commitment to gender diversity by providing opportunities for “career break” women to return to law.  For the reasons outlined above, they felt that a tailored, bespoke returner programme would be the way to do that. 

With support from Managing Partner Liam Cowell and Senior Partner Jon Hayes, the firm committed to take three career returners, initially creating spaces in Real Estate, Corporate and Tax. 

The Reignite Academy ran a tailored recruitment campaign and eventually offers were made to a senior associate in International Arbitration, an Associate in Corporate and an associate in Tax.   Between the three women, they bring back thirty years of private practice fee earning experience along with a wealth of experience from their time away from private practice.  

A New Cross-Firm Programme for 2025

The Reignite Academy is about to launch a new cross-firm programme, which will commence in January 2025. This will enable more firms to participate and gain access to this fabulous pool of talent. Contact lisa@reigniteacademy.co.uk for more details.