England: Women solicitors outnumber men for first time

A four per cent increase the number of women qualifying in 2017 meant women outnumbered men for the first time in the profession.

Figures in a report from the Law Society show there are 69,995 female solicitors, 366 more than men.

The report states that women made up more than 61 per cent of entrants to the profession in the 12 months to last July.

If the present trend continues, there will be about 10,000 more women than men in the profession within four years.

The statistics also reveal that the profession is more diverse than the general population – a little over 71 per cent of the profession is white, compared to 87 per cent of the country.

Law Society president Joe Egan said: “With more women than men and a steadily growing proportion of solicitors from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background, it is more important than ever the profession recognises and rewards talent equally.

“Every step towards greater equality will benefit businesses, clients and solicitors alike. We are keen to support our members in adopting and shaping best practice so that law firms comply not just with the letter but also with the spirit of the law. Our diversity charter, diversity access scheme, social mobility ambassadors and our fair recruitment toolkit are just some examples of our work to help people succeed in the sector regardless of background.

“An important foundation is transparency, and this includes gender pay gap reporting. The Law Society supports the inclusion of partner pay alongside employee pay data in gender pay gap reporting as an important step towards greater equality. This will give firms a useful benchmark and enable an evidence-based action plan to tackle inequalities.”