Diversity data shows progress in law

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has released comprehensive law firm diversity data covering the last ten years, highlighting changes in representation across various characteristics including sex, ethnicity, disability, and socio-economic factors. As part of its commitment to fostering equality, diversity, and inclusion within the legal field, the SRA has been collecting firm-specific diversity data every two years since 2015 to reflect meaningful trends.

The study reveals an overall increase in diversity, especially concerning the representation of women and people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds. However, significant gaps persist in areas such as disability representation, socio-economic status, and the advancement of underrepresented groups into senior roles. Notably, the proportion of women within the profession has risen to 55% in 2025, up from 48% in 2015. Despite this progress, only 40% of women reached partner status by 2025, a modest increase from 32% a decade prior.

Moreover, the demographics of lawyers are evolving; the percentage of solicitors from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds rose from 14% in 2015 to 20% in 2025, which surpasses the national workforce figure of 18%. Additionally, the representation of lawyers identifying as having a disability grew from 3% to 8% during the same period, though this figure contrasts with the 17% reported nationally.

Other noteworthy changes include an increase in lawyers who identify as lesbian, gay, bi (LGB), or prefer another description, climbing from 3% in 2015 to 4.5% in 2025. This aligns closely with the national employment statistics, which estimate this demographic at 4.8%.

To enhance transparency and provide insights into these 10-year trends, the SRA has created a new interactive tool that allows firms to examine their diversity data compared to industry benchmarks. "Encouraging diversity and inclusion within the legal sector is positive for consumers and for law firms alike," said SRA Chief Executive Sarah Rapson. "Consumers benefit from working with legal professionals that reflect their wider community, and firms thrive with talented professionals from different backgrounds in their firms."

Rapson acknowledged the ongoing challenges, emphasising that while progress has been made, "more can be done. In particular, to address the barriers to progression for women and minority ethnic solicitors in larger firms, the underrepresentation of disabled solicitors, and to encourage those from less privileged backgrounds to progress in the profession."

Despite the advancements, underrepresentation at senior levels remains a concern, with women constituting only 35% of full equity partners, while 31% were found within the largest law firms. Among partners, 19% belonged to a Black, Asian, or minority ethnic background, but this representation fluctuated significantly by firm size. For example, only 9% of partners in firms with 50 or more lawyers were from such backgrounds, contrasting sharply with 42% in one-partner firms.

In terms of disability representation, lawyers identifying as having a disability accounted for 8% of all lawyers. However, this statistic, again, varied with firm size: in one-partner firms, 13% declared a disability, while only 6% did so in larger firms. Furthermore, around 24% of lawyers attended independent or fee-paying schools, significantly higher than the general public rate of 6%. Strikingly, 66% of lawyers hailed from more privileged backgrounds compared to 46% of the national population.

As the legal profession continues to evolve, the SRA's findings underline both achievements and the pressing need for sustained efforts towards greater inclusion and representation.