Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

When it comes to the firm’s vision around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, we believe in the shared value approach, where the success of both our business and the community in which we operate are connected. We invest in our society and communities through responsible business practices and contributions of our resources as well as approximately 1% of our turnover. This is the context in which we pursue our DE&I vision, something understood by all partners in the firm’s Management Group.

Diversity Committee

We recognise and value that each staff member is unique and brings a different perspective to the firm and that all of our employees have a role to play in embracing a culture of diversity and inclusion. Attracting and retaining the best people is vital to us achieving our goals.

As part of this, the firm’s Diversity Committee consisting of 12 staff members from different areas across the firm was set up in 2017. The group, currently chaired by partner Gerard Kelly, work specifically on promoting diversity, develop targeted diversity initiatives and focus on themes such as inclusion and social mobility.

The goals of the firm as implemented through the Diversity Committee are to acknowledge and respect diversity and inclusion within the firm, to welcome and respect individual views and experiences for the benefit of colleagues and clients and to recognise and formalise our existing culture of openness and inclusivity.

The Diversity Committee regularly holds “Diversity Matters” sessions, where we invite external speakers to participate and share their perspectives. Previous speakers have included Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD (parenting and work), Ivana Bacik TD (International Women’s Day), Johnny Cox (former Co-Chair of Bank of Ireland's LGBT+ Network) and Dr Lydia Foy and Sara Phillips, (Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI).

Our Diversity and Inclusion Focus Areas are:


Our Programmes and Initiatives

  • Together with UCD Sutherlands School of Law, we have launched the UCD Sutherland Opportunity in 2019 and continue to support the programme in 2023. UCD Sutherland Opportunity seeks to bring greater diversity in the legal profession by helping students who face significant economic and societal barriers to gain access to transformative educational opportunities, graduate from UCD, by providing them all the necessary guidance and support to retain their place and participate fully in college life that will transform their education, career, and life outcome.
  • Our Diversity Committee organises unconscious bias training for staff who are involved in the interview process for the recruitment of staff, these training sessions are presented by Dr Melrona Kirrane, Associate Professor of Organisational Psychology, DCU Business School. These trainings and events help to incorporate D&I into MHC recruitment processes and spreads awareness and reinstates our core values amongst the staff at all levels that every race, religion, ethnicity, experience, and culture is appreciated and respected.
  • We are one of the founding members of OUTLaw which was launched in January 2019 by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Frank Clarke. OUTLaw's mission is to promote and drive the inclusion of LGBT+ people across the Irish legal community.
  • We are a Council Member of the Irish arm of the 30% Club. The 30% Club was established to develop a diverse pool of talent for all businesses with a mission to reach at least 30% representation of women on all boards and C-suites globally. We have two permanent Partners (one female, one male) representatives to the 30% Club who are responsible for contributing to the mission and work of the 30% Club.
  • We are a Council Member on The DisAbility Legal Network which promotes awareness and inclusion of disability in the workplace.
  • We have been conducting and publishing a Gender and Diversity Survey in the Aviation Industry in Ireland for the last 5 years. In the survey, we look at diversity issues such as gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation in the aviation industry.
  • We have been conducting and publishing an In-House Counsel & Gender Parity Survey over the last five years, with the latest set of results published in November 2022.

Gender Pay Gap Report 2022

We are pleased to publish our 2022 Gender Pay Gap Report.

Awards & Recognition

We are named by Accenture as winner of its first-ever 2021 Outside Counsel Diversity Awards, alongside three other international law firms. The award honoured Accenture’s legal service providers for their exceptional efforts in 2020 to create a culture of equality in their workplaces and communities. Recently, we received top honours at the Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards 2022 in the 'Diversity & Inclusion - Multinational Company' category for The Engage & Education Fund.