What is reverse mentoring?

In reverse mentoring, junior staff or people from underrepresented backgrounds mentor more senior colleagues. It’s a way to share lived experiences, build understanding, and challenge traditional hierarchies. This approach helps organisations listen to voices that are often left out of important conversations.

Why it matters

Progress on improving equality, inclusion and wellbeing has been too slow and junior and aspiring lawyers are often not sufficiently involved. LawCare and the University of Leeds created this toolkit to help address that.

The toolkit gives step-by-step advice for setting up a reverse mentoring programme that is safe, properly considered, and useful - not just a tick-box exercise.

The toolkit will help you:

• Understand how reverse mentoring works.
• Create a safe and respectful space for honest conversations.
• Support mentors and mentees through the process.
• Learn from real experiences to make lasting changes.
• Avoid common mistakes.

Who is the toolkit for?

This free resource is for any legal workplace - large or small, and in any part of the legal sector. Whether you’ve never tried reverse mentoring before or you’re looking to improve what you’re already doing, this toolkit can help.

👉 Read more about the toolkit, including more information about what's in each section, on the LawCare website: www.lawcare.org.uk/reverse

👉 Download the reverse mentoring toolkit (71 pages, 1.2MB, PDF)

👉 There are also more resources on the University of Leeds Reverse mentoring project page 

What’s really working for inclusion and wellbeing in law - event recap

On Thursday 26 June 2025, LawCare and the University of Leeds hosted an in-person event at Leeds University Business School, bringing together legal professionals, students, and researchers to explore what truly works to improve inclusion and wellbeing in law.

The event featured a powerful panel discussion grounded in real evidence and practical examples. It sparked honest, engaging conversations about the importance of initiatives – especially those aimed at supporting aspiring and junior lawyers – to ensure they have real, lasting impact.

As part of this collaboration, LawCare and the University of Leeds proudly launched a new Reverse mentoring toolkit, developed from research into how reverse mentoring can drive change around equity, inclusion, and wellbeing across the legal profession.

The panel included:

• Richard Cressall – Partner, Shoosmiths

• Verity Bedford-Read – Pathways to Law Coordinator, University of Leeds

• Connie Dalziel – Associate, Pinsent Masons and Co-chair of the Legal Neurodiversity Network

• Luke Corcoran – Senior Lawyer, Government Legal Department and President of Leeds Law Society

• Tegan Knappy – Employment Lawyer and mentor in the Reverse Mentoring research project

• Chris McGrath – Legal Director, Addleshaw Goddard

• Rachael O’Connor – Associate Professor, University of Leeds and lead researcher on the Reverse Mentoring Toolkit

The session was followed by refreshments and networking, giving attendees the chance to connect, reflect, and share ideas for action.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us – your contributions helped make this a thoughtful, inspiring, and practical event focused on real change in the legal sector.