Excellence is what we strive for, from the big picture to the small detail
Collectively it’s possible if individually it’s true. That’s why it starts in creating the best experience for our own people. It’s about creating the right culture and conditions so that people get the most out of their work. The excellence in training, standards and opportunities. Being surrounded by the brightest minds and the best projects. Getting treated with respect for who you are and what motivates you. A fair culture that rewards talent when it’s applied well, every day.
All round excellence in the law firm experience internally means delivering the same externally. It means clients get the benefit of joined-up, commercially astute thinking and advice. With the highest service levels, truly focused on delivery and unrivalled added value. That represents all-round excellence in their experience too. Our purpose captures that balance and partnership between our internal and external experiences. With the emphasis on excellence for each other and for our clients.
One Team
In this interview Eimear Power speaks with Keith Donaldson, chair of alliance, the Arthur Cox LGBT+ network
EP: Keith, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for the magazine. Would you mind introducing yourself?
KD: Thanks for the opportunity. I’m Keith Donaldson, my pronouns are he/him and I’m the practice administrator for our commercial legal teams, which means I manage the administration and secretarial support for several of our legal groups, including Technology, Tax, Competition and Aviation. I’m a gay man and have felt secure and supported enough to be out as such throughout my working life including at Arthur Cox. I currently sit on the alliance committee, most recently as its acting chair.
EP: Can you tell me about the history of alliance?
KD: Before alliance, the firm had several informal networks and groups of colleagues, LGBT+ and allies, who met together on occasion to discuss LGBT+ matters. As part of those discussions and on taking them to the firm’s management, the firm decided to formalise things and to improve visibility of all of the good things that were going on in those networks. Arthur Cox launched alliance in 2017 as the first LGBT+ network within an Irish law firm. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attended the launch event in the office and there was a big party to celebrate. Here we are five years on with many events under our belts and many more to come!
EP: What is the aim of alliance?
KD: We aim to create an inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues can be themselves, regardless of how they express their gender or sexuality. We aim to improve visibility and to get people talking about issues affecting the LGBT+ community, including through our annual Pride week programme.
We provide mentoring for LGBT employees as well as training for allies. We organise speakers throughout the year to come in and give talks to staff about various issues affecting the LGBT+ community.
EP: How did you become involved in alliance?
KD: I first joined Arthur Cox in 2017 during a placement from the UK. I was aware of alliance’s work and having been a member of LGBT+ groups in the UK I was keen to get involved. I was fortunate enough to attend a couple of committee meetings in that time and learn more about alliance’s goals. I returned to the firm in 2019 and when a role come up in summer 2020 I again reached out to the committee and formally joined. Now in 2022 I have rotated into the chair position.
EP: How important was the existence of alliance to your decision to choose Arthur Cox?
KD: As I referred to earlier, I joined the firm in 2017 initially from the UK. My knowledge of Irish firms at the time was scant so I researched them before deciding which to join. It was during that research I learned of Arthur Cox’s alliance initiative, which really appealed to me. As an out gay man, seeing a firm that was actively engaging with and supporting its LGBT+ colleagues was very important to me – particularly as it was the only law firm at the time in Ireland to be visibly doing so.
EP: What has been the highlight of your time as chair so far?
KD: I’m still new to the role so finding my feet a little! Of course, the work we do within Arthur Cox is very important – that never stops and we’re always pushing to find new ways of doing so. However, we also engage with external and incoming members of our society, including from internships and universities. Earlier in the year, I spoke, along with a couple of my committee colleagues, to our summer interns about our work with alliance. I’ve also had the opportunity to speak with several of our university contacts and discuss the work their own LGBT+ committees are doing. It’s great to hear the energy and enthusiasm from those people in engaging with LGBT+ matters, and be able to share ideas and resources to build towards a more inclusive workspace and society generally.
EP: What do you think has been the biggest challenge so far for alliance?
KD: Keeping our cause and activities front and centre and maintaining the support of our colleagues has been such a big one. alliance has been going for five years, which has encompassed two years of lockdown. It can be difficult for any initiative to keep going as strongly as we have done during that period. During each of the lockdown years, 2020 and 2021, we were able to deliver a full Pride week programme in various online ways: with drag bingo; recording messages of support; the fantastic Arthur Cox choir delivering fantastic renditions of our favourite songs; regular know how briefs on topics affecting LGBT+ people; online talks with external guests; a podcast last year with BeLonG To. They were a success because our colleagues readily got involved and showed their support, even during such a sensitive and stressful period.
EP: What do you think will be the biggest challenge in the future?
KD: I don’t think I can narrow it down to just one – we continue to face many challenges, and some we won’t foresee. As we move into more hybrid and dynamic ways of working, the challenges of staying relevant are still there so we need to continue to adapt in the ways we engage with our colleagues. LGBT+ people also face many ongoing struggles, including in access to health care, various issues affecting our trans and non-binary communities, and developments in support for same sex and gender diverse families. We currently structure our work around several core work streams, including gender expression, sexual health and rainbow families, to focus our energy as needs arise. It is important we continue to stay abreast of developments affecting our LGBT+ communities and listen to our colleagues on what they would like to see from alliance.
EP: Why do you think alliance has been so successful in Arthur Cox?
KD: Purely and simply through the support and ongoing, active engagement from colleagues across the firm. As a committee, we could decide to put out any number of initiatives, but without our colleagues actively and visibly supporting them, or our management team readily promoting and championing them, they’d come to nothing. Instead, our colleagues, at all levels and whether LGBT+ or allies, feed us their ideas, and engage with our content. Recently we asked for expressions of interest to join our committee – we had a fantastic response from across the firm, showing the ongoing commitment to LGBT+ inclusivity. And our current alliance committee itself, made up of people across the firm willing to give up their time, make the work itself a pleasure. Thanks to everyone for making alliance such a success!
For more information on Alliance, please visit arthurcox.com/alliance
“As an out gay man, seeing a firm that was actively engaging with and supporting its LGBT+ colleagues was very important to me – particularly as it was the only law firm at the time in Ireland to be visibly doing so.”
“We currently structure our work around several core work streams, including gender expression, sexual health and rainbow families, to focus our energy as needs arise.”