Dentons has announced that it is one of the first law firms to partner with Women Returners Scotland, which aims to help qualified lawyers to re-enter the legal profession after an extended period away.

Women Returners Scotland is supported by the Scottish Government with funding from the Workplace Equality Fund. Through its new Returners to Business Services Scotland Programme, it is partnering with leading Scottish employers to launch a new cross-company returner programme to help women who have taken extended career breaks back into work in the business services sector across Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The programme offers a professionally-paid placement of 16 weeks. It will equip participants with the skills, knowledge and experience to enable them to apply for permanent roles at the end of the programme. Participants will also benefit from internal mentoring and coaching support from Women Returners to help them transition successfully back into the workplace.

Dentons Scotland-based partner Amanda Jones, who has recently been appointed Dentons’ first-ever Women’s Advancement Director, said, “We are delighted to be joining forces with Women Returners to take part in the business services sector programme. This is the first programme of its type for the legal industry in Scotland, and we are proud to be part of such an important initiative.

“At Dentons we are committed to being the most inclusive law firm in the world and the advancement of women is a business imperative for us both in Scotland and globally. Not only will this programme provide women returners with a supported route back to work and knowledge and skills updating, but it will help us gain access to a relatively untapped pool of high-calibre talent so we can ensure our pipeline of female talent is as strong as possible.”