Profession’s Diversity Continues to Improve but more to do

These are among the key findings published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) following its biennial collection of diversity data from 9,276 law firms employing more than 203,000 people across England and Wales.

The 2023 data shows there is an increase in the proportion of women in the profession (up slightly to 53% from 52% in 2021; it’s risen from 48% in 2015). Although the seniority gap between women at partner and solicitor level remains significant, it narrowed slightly. Overall, women make up 37% of partners, up two percentage points since 2021. Women are less well represented at the most senior level of the largest firms - 32% of equity partners across all firms are women compared to 28% in firms with 50+ partners.

In terms of ethnicity, the SRA found that 19% of lawyers working across all firms were of Black, Asian or minority ethnic origin, up from 18% in 2021 and 14% in 2015. This group is made up of 12% Asian lawyers, 3% Black, 3% Mixed/Multiple and 1% of lawyers from other minority ethnic backgrounds. Overall, 17% of partners are from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds, but there is a significantly higher proportion of partners working in one-partner firms (36%) than any other firm size. And this proportion decreases as the firm size increases, with just 8% of partners from these backgrounds in the largest firms (with 50+ partners).

The proportion of those from a ‘privileged’ background is high in the legal sector but is falling slowly. The proportion of lawyers with parents from a ‘professional’ background fell from 60% in 2019 to 57% in 2023. The other main indicator of socio-economic background is attendance at independent/fee paying schools with 7.5% attending such schools nationally. Overall, the proportion of lawyers attending these schools has decreased, from 23% in 2015 to 21% in 2023. The largest firms have the greatest proportion of lawyers from a professional socio-economic background (65%), and those who went to independent/fee-paying schools (28%).

There continues to be an under-representation of those reporting they had a disability within the sector - just 6% of lawyers, up from 5% in 2021 - compared to 16% of the wider UK working population. This might suggest potential under-reporting.

Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive said: ‘A diverse and inclusive legal profession which reflects the wider community is not only good for the public, but good for legal businesses themselves. It benefits everyone to have the most talented people from all backgrounds able to work and progress in the legal sector. Things are slowly improving, but there is still more to do.’

A comparison tool is available on the SRA's website which allows firms to benchmark how they compare to similar firms in the profession. More detail on the SRA’s findings can be found here.

The SRA has also published its latest gender pay gap and ethnicity pay gap reports, and is continuing to encourage others in the legal sector to do the same. While publication of the gender pay gap report is a legal requirement for organisations with more than 250 employees, there is no current obligation to publish ethnicity pay gap data.

The SRA’s median pay gap between Black, Asian and ethnic minority and White staff reduced from 12.7 per cent in 2022 to 7.6 per cent in 2023. While this is heading in the right direction, this is still wider than the ONS UK-wide average of 2.3 per cent. The median bonus gap is 23.3 per cent, down from 30 per cent in 2022.

The SRA has a dedicated workforce senior ethnicity inclusion action plan, which sets out its targets, steps on career development and recruitment and how it will monitor and assess its progress.

Covering the reporting year up to April 2023, the latest gender pay gap report shows that the SRA’s median pay gap between male and female staff was 9.3 per cent. This is a decrease of 1.9 percentage points since 2022, while the median bonus gap is now 20 per cent, up from 12.5 per cent last year.

The pay gap remains narrower than the Office of National Statistics (ONS) figure of a UK-wide average gap of 14.9 per cent, but there is more to do. The report sets out planned actions, which include reviewing the SRA’s reward strategy and how it recognises staff, as well as its policies, processes and practices. Many of the measures in the ethnicity inclusion plan will also help to address the gender pay gap.