Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Houthoff firmly believes that fostering a diverse and inclusive culture is essential to provide everyone the opportunity to develop and make a valuable contribution to the firm that we want to be.

We believe that diversity goes further than respecting people's differences. Teams with a mix of people with different backgrounds, cultures, preferences and ideas are more productive, more creative and more innovative. It is therefore not only our corporate social responsibility to strive for a diverse and inclusive working environment, but it also makes good business sense.

Houthoff works in a constantly changing environment at the heart of society. Our clients represent all sorts of people in the Netherlands and worldwide. To properly understand the dynamics of our clients, diversity is very important to us. We make room for ambitious people, irrespective of who they are. This requires a culture in which everyone has the freedom to be themselves and to have an open mind.

In our efforts to promote a diverse and inclusive environment, it is important to recognise that there are existing prejudices before they can be properly dealt with. We strongly believe that it is possible to be a diverse and inclusive office. It will take patience, but above all, the same drive with which we perform our daily work.

A better balance between men and women

At the moment, half of the entry-level lawyers at Houthoff are women. The proportion of women at partner level is 25%. We believe there is room for improvement and are committed to achieve equal representation at partner level. In view of the current gender composition of our employees, we trust that equal representation at Houthoff will become a reality.

Cooperation with Stichting Forward

Houthoff was the first law firm in the Netherlands to sign the 'Diversity in the legal profession' declaration of the Netherlands Bar Association. We are also one of the founders of the FORWARD foundation, which aims to promote acceptance of the LGBT community within the Dutch legal profession.