A woman smiles while holding a paper, engaging in conversation with two people. They stand near a staircase in a modern interior with soft lighting.

Culture

Building a culture where our people can thrive

Our people are the key to Forsters’ success. With our team of expert lawyers and business services teams, our goal is to provide every individual with the opportunity to thrive in their choice of career.

  • 7

    diversity and inclusion support networks

  • 36%

    of the firm are signed up to our Wellbeing Fund

  • 300+

    Knowledge and L&D workshops, lectures
    and seminars

All data FY24/25

Creating an inclusive culture

Our aim is to support and encourage diversity within our workforce and to make Forsters a truly inclusive place to work. We strive to improve understanding and communication, break down barriers and encourage and embrace people’s differences so that every individual can flourish.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Committee actively promotes and drives action across the firm, and we have seven employee-led support networks covering disability, faith, gender equality, pride, race, social mobility, and working parents and carers. These networks offer a space for discussion, raising awareness and influencing change through firmwide collaboration.

Our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy supports the firm’s growth and business priorities. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce will mean we are better able to respond to challenges and meet the needs of our clients. We know that attracting and retaining staff is absolutely linked to our culture and how happy and supported people feel at work. We want to ensure that everyone at Forsters feels valued and included.

See our diversity statistics.

Hear from our team

Former Senior Partner Smita Edwards, Graduate Recruitment Partner Emily Holdstock and Graduate Recruitment officer Emma Cooper join Miri Stickland to discuss why diversity and inclusion is so important to Forsters, the preconceptions that applicants may have about the firm and why they should look past them, and initiatives the Graduate Recruitment team are taking to promote diversity.

Listen to the podcast

icon logo main dark original

The Halo Code

Forsters champions the right of staff to embrace all Afro-hairstyles. We acknowledge that Afro-textured hair is an important part of our Black employees’ racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identities, and requires specific styling for hair health and maintenance.

We celebrate Afro-textured hair worn in all styles including, but not limited to, afros, locs, twists, braids, cornrows, fades, hair straightened through the application of heat or chemicals, weaves, wigs, headscarves, and wraps.

At Forsters, we recognise and celebrate our colleagues’ identities. We are a community built on an ethos of equality and respect where hair texture and style have no bearing on an employee’s ability to succeed.

Learn more about the Halo Collective

Social Mobility Employer Index 2025

We have been recognised as a Top 75 Employer for Social Mobility in the Social Mobility Employer Index 2025.

This was our debut application for the Index, which is compiled by the Social Mobility Foundation and is a rigorous benchmarking and assessment tool measuring steps employers are taking to ensure their workplace is open to talent from all social backgrounds.

This ranking reflects the progress we’ve made in growing our social mobility programme and gives us a clear direction for what comes next. We’re committed to building an inclusive, purpose-driven firm where everyone can thrive.

Learn more about the Social Mobility Employer Index
Memberships and partnerships
The image shows the text "BRIGHT NETWORK" in bold capital letters. "BRIGHT" is in orange and "NETWORK" in black, centred on a plain white background.
Logo featuring interlocking circular shapes on the left and the text "Business Disability Forum" on the right, with "Business" and "Forum" in grey, and "Disability" in blue.
Disability confident Committed logo
The logo features four icons representing disabilities: a brain, eye with slash, ear, and a wheelchair user. Below, the text reads "Disabilityjob.co.uk" in blue and grey lettering.
The word "HALO" is depicted with a sunburst design radiating from the letter "O", suggesting brightness or illumination. The text is styled in a bold serif font.
The text "MyPLUS" is displayed in bold letters, with "My" in black and "PLUS" in green; a small grey plus sign appears next to "PLUS". The background is white.
Social Mobility Index Logo

Facilitating professional development

At Forsters, we support every person to achieve and this includes facilitating everyone with their professional growth and development.

Our Learning and Development (L&D) team offers a comprehensive suite of opportunities for business skills enhancement across a range of topics to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, ideas and perspectives. We offer professional development at career transition points, for example for new trainees and those who have been promoted to Partner or Counsel. Our internal and external coaching capability also provides focused development in a one-to-one setting to work on business objectives and professional growth.

Our Knowledge team assists with improving the internal management and dissemination of knowledge and information at Forsters. Innovative legal technology is a key focus and vital in improving efficiency and managing risk alongside leveraging knowledge to champion our business reputation as experts in our fields.

Championing wellbeing

We are committed to promoting and protecting the health, safety and welfare of all our people. We want every person at Forsters to have a positive lived day-to-day working experience, with all of us being empowered to manage our wellbeing.

Wellbeing is integral to our distinctively friendly and supportive culture. Working in the legal sector can be hugely rewarding but it can also be demanding. When our people are healthy they are motivated and this will have a positive impact on the effectiveness of our business.

We have a strong firmwide programme of wellbeing-related events, communications, benefits and tools to help when our people need support for their mental, physical and financial wellbeing.

 

Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2024-25

In the Legal Cheek Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey 2024-25, we scored A* on Training, Peer Support, Partner Approachability, Work/life Balance, Quality of Work and Social Life.

 

legal cheek infoboxes

legal cheek

Legal 500 Future Lawyers Survey

In 2024, we were named Legal 500 Future Lawyers Winners in three categories; Social Life, Quality of Work and Vacation Scheme.

 

Legal 500 Future Lawyers logo

 

Connecting for positive impact

To read more about our Culture pillar please read our Responsible business review 2024/25

Read the review

Forsters responsible business review 2024/25 front cover

Our values

Our commitment to D&I, professional development and wellbeing is absolutely essential to our success in living out our values on a daily basis and to achieving our business objectives.

  •  

    We collaborate
    for excellence

  •  

    We are
    driven by
    what really
    matters

  •  

    We support every person to achieve

  •  

    We take happiness seriously

Our values are at the heart of everything we do

Our values drive everything we do at Forsters. They reflect our ambition to make a difference to the people we work with and the clients we represent.

  • We collaborate for excellence

  • We are
    driven by
    what really
    matters

  • We support every person
    to achieve

  • We take happiness seriously

Leading the way

Maryam Oghanna
Maryam Oghanna

Partner, Trust and Estate Disputes | Diversity and Inclusion Committee co-lead

Alfred Liu
Alfred Liu

Partner, Private Client | Diversity and Inclusion Committee co-lead