The Law Society of Scotland has published its latest diversity data, collected as part of the annual practising certificate (PC) renewal process to offer a key insight into the make-up of today’s Scottish legal profession.

This is the second time the society has collected diversity data. Questions on diversity were included for the first time in the 2020/21 PC renewal process and the data is collected every two years.

Around 80 per cent of members completed the 2022/23 data, in line with the proportion of respondents in 2020/21, providing a truly comprehensive picture of the diversity of today’s profession.

Key findings for 2022/23 include:

• The Scottish legal profession continues to gradually become more ethnically diverse.
• 86.48 per cent of solicitors are white, compared to 88.01 per cent in 2020/21.
• At least 4.01 per cent of the profession is from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background, up 0.63 per cent in two years.
• More than 10 per cent of solicitors aged 30 and under are from an ethnic minority background, up more than 3 per cent in two years.
• However, progress is not equal across all ethnicities. For example, solicitors under 30 from a Pakistani background have increased, while those under 30 from a Chinese background have decreased.
• There continues to be an acute issue attracting young men from an ethnic minority background into the profession, although there has been a slight improvement from 28 per cent two years ago to 32.63 per cent today.
• At least 4.18 per cent of the profession is LGBTQ+, compared to 3.2 per cent in 2020/21.
  Members identifying as LGBTQ+ rises to 6.6 per cent for those aged 30 and under.
  At least 5.67 per cent of the profession has a disability, such as blindness, deafness or a mobility impairment, compared to 4.8 per cent in 2020/21.
  More than 47 per cent of Scottish solicitors do not subscribe to a religion, up 1 per cent on 2020/21.
  At least 67.1 per cent of the solicitor population was state educated, compared to 66.7 per cent in 2020/21.
  This proportion increases to at least 72.94 per cent of those aged under 30.

Solicitors were asked for information on their ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and social background. The data is automatically pseudonymised in order to protect members’ identities and does not form part of members’ information.

The high-level diversity data is intended to complement the in-depth Profile of the Profession research that is conducted every five years. The most recent Profile of the Profession survey ran earlier this year and the results will be published in late summer.

Sheila Webster, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “While there is only so much change that can happen within the profession in a two-year period, it is encouraging that the broad theme in each area is of progress towards a more representative profession that better reflects the society it serves.