The Bar Council is extremely proud that the co-chairs of our Race Panel have been awarded the ethnicity champion award at the Legal 500 ESG Awards 2025.
Current co-chair Laurie-Anne Power KC (25 Bedford Row) and former co-chair Simon Regis CBE (Government Legal Department) received the award in recognition of their outstanding work on the ‘Race at the Bar: Three years on’ report – the follow up to the landmark Race at the Bar report 2021.
The Legal 500 ESG awards celebrate the best ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives across the UK legal sector. Recipients are recognised for their efforts to bring about change across all aspects of ESG, including diversity and inclusion.
After collecting the award, Laurie-Anne Power KC said:
“This award is recognition of the fantastic work of the Bar Council’s Race Panel over the past 5 years, and the brilliant staff who support and deliver our work.
“When we researched and wrote the second race report we found that action is happening but there’s still so much more to do to make sure everyone’s experience of the Bar is positive.
“Tackling racial inequality at the Bar requires sustained commitment. The Bar Council is providing the data and evidence, as well as guides and toolkits, to help people take action. But it’s everyone’s individual responsibility to ensure we make better progress, more quickly, in future.”
The Race Panel, now co-chaired by Laurie-Anne Power KC and Gary Pryce (New Square Chambers), is taking forward the recommendations of the race report, as well as undertaking a piece of work around career progression, including silk and judicial applications.
