Your Openness Statement for Aspiring Lawyers with Disabilities by Lewis Greenman

While conducting your research in preparation for job interviews and applications, you are likely to come across a range of companies with highly publicised diversity and inclusion programs that aim to account for inequalities and disadvantages employees and applicants experience. We have been pleased to discover that many of these schemes go above and beyond the mandatory requirements of the the Solicitors Regulation Authority requirements to encouraging equality of opportunity and respect for diversity. (Principle 9) Despite the best efforts of some firms, many applicants, trainees and employees continue to experience challenges accessing the support they need. I am pleased to share that my recent attendance of the MyPlus Students’ Club Open Day at Herbert Smith Freehills proposed a solution in the form of the ‘Openness Statement’. This blog will provide some insights I gained and will explain how applicants can make the most of the support firms have to offer!

What is an Openness Statement?

The Openness statement framework allows users to articulate clearly to an employer the nature of their condition, the implications of their condition on their work and recommendations of how an employer could provide support that enables them to be an asset to a company.

A template has been devised by MyPlus Students’ Club, to assist students creating their own statements. They are an organisation dedicated to assisting students with disabilities to gain the necessary confidence to achieve their professional goals. They work with many of the graduate recruitment teams at a variety of organisations including Slaughter & May, Linklaters and Hogan Lovells. To find out more about their support and how to access it, be sure to click the link below:

My Openness Statement – MyPlus Students’ Club (myplusstudentsclub.com)

Why write an openness statement?

There are both personal and professional benefits to writing an openness statement. As someone who has recently been diagnosed with a disability, the openness statement provided a useful aid when coming to terms with my condition. It allows you to take the important step of considering how you wish to articulate your openness about your condition and provides the useful opportunity to consider how you will explain your reality to others.

You may benefit from taking the time to speak to a counsellor, colleague, or trusted friend to help you gain perspective on how your condition affects your life. This development of self-awareness is likely to have a positive impact on many aspects of your development.

It also allows candidates to impart this information clearly to a firm’s graduate recruitment team. This is highly important as these people are unlikely to have a clinical background or a detailed understanding of your condition. This is particularly valuable in a professional sense, as a lack of understanding of your condition is likely to lead to you being wrongfully rejected by employers. Once your needs are communicated to the firms, they can often provide some form of adjustments to their ordinary recruitment process to mitigate challenges you face due to your disability. Details on the adjustments provided can often be found on a firm’s website or from the graduate recruitment team. Identification of the barriers you face in the application process will therefore allow you to prove your suitability to an employer on a level playing field with other candidates.

Making the most of your openness statement

Openness with an employer

In order to obtain the adjustments for you to succeed, it is imperative you are open about your condition with your employer. This falls within the scope of confidential information and will not be shared with third parties. It is important that you do not attempt to conceal the reality of your condition to your employer. The recruitment process is challenging enough without trying to hide your condition from recruiters! The use of an openness statement can provide the insight to communicate the relevant information with confidence and to allow supervisors and colleagues to understand how they can best assist you.

If you are successful in securing a role at a firm, you will be assigned a supervisor to guide you through the trainee process. Clear and open communication with your team and supervisors can facilitate your tailored support and mentorship.

Use your disability to demonstrate your competencies.

Living with a disability requires resilience as well as the use of problem solving, and organisation skills-so why not showcase this in your applications? One of the times you took initiative to adapt to a situation caused by your disability, could prove as a useful example in a competency-based question! This could be your method of setting your application apart from the dreaded ‘cookie cutter’ lawyer applications rejected by firms every application period!

Communicate your needs in a timely manner.

Try your best to get the conservation going with the employer as early as possible. This should ensure a timely response and that your adjustments will be implemented effectively. This is far less likely to be achieved if you raise the issue the night before an assessment centre for example!

Reflections

In reflection, the creation of an openness statement provides an invaluable tool for the aspiring lawyer to communicate their conditions openly and confidently. I believe this is an essential step to achieving your ambitions both personally and professionally.

I hope the readers of this blog found it insightful and will put this information into action this application cycle. Wishing everyone the best of luck in their applications!

Lewis is a final year Law Student at Cardiff University. He has experience providing legal services and currently volunteers as a paralegal at the National Community Law Project. Last year, he Co-founded his University’s Commercial Awareness Society and was elected as their first ever Vice-President.

Connect with Lewis on LinkedIn here (1) Lewis Greenman | LinkedIn