"Magic circle firm’s ‘UK first’ for women lawyers returning to work", 1 May 2015

Magic circle firm Allen & Overy has set up what it claims to be the first scheme of its kind in the UK to encourage women on extended career breaks to return to the law...Law Society’s latest Annual Statistics Report suggest the law is good at attracting women but not so much at retaining or promoting them...Allen & Overy’s ‘Return to law’ programme will be available to former employees...It is specifically targeting women as part of its 20:20 initiative to increase the proportion of women partners to at least 20% by 2020...A significant factor contributing to the lack of women in senior roles was the perceived difficulty for them reintegrating into the workplace following an extended career break. Participants will undergo 'intensive technical training'...At the end of the six-month programme, the participants will be offered a job...[Managing partner Wim Dejonghe said:]‘To succeed here as a firm, we need to come up with new initiatives like this so that we can continue to broaden our understanding to find different approaches that address the varying needs of women wanting to continue their professional careers in the law.’