Women In Law [Infographic]

Hermione https://www.legalo.co.uk 2m 577

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Rebalancing The Books Of Law

There are some exciting changes happening in the legal profession and this is fantastic news for gender equality. In recent years, we’ve been seeing a gradual shift as more women enter law.

Legalo have reviewed data from the Law Society’s last five reports to illustrate the lie of the land in the legal profession and show how far women have come.

2016 statistics from Law Society Report show that for the first time ever there are now more women on the Solicitor’s Roll than men. For a profession which has been dominated by men for so long, this is ground-breaking. Whilst men still dominate at partnership level, if these trends continue, women will continue to close the gap in the future, possibly as soon as the end of this year! In addition, the number of men and women actually practising as solicitors has almost reached equilibrium with 49.5% of practising solicitors being women; the number of women practising in-house is actually higher than men, with 56% of in house positions being occupied by women.

Well done to everyone within the profession, from the training contracts upwards – this is great news.

To see the fascinating stats and facts for yourself, take a look at the infographic below.

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Women in the law

Rebalancing the books

Over 60% of law graduates are female but only 30% of Partners in law firms are female. We explore how females are rapidly rebalancing the books and taking a lead in the legal profession!

Females vs. Males Graduating in law degrees

An 11 year snapshot

2005 males 96.4% 4392 females 69.6% 7692 total males and females 16464

2010 males 97.1% 5303 females 62.9% 9008 total males and females 14311

2015 males 96.9% 5682 females 62.9% 9749 total males and females 15431

2016 96.47% 5817 females 69.59% 10133 total males and females 15950

Females Beat The Males With Uni Degree Grades

Summer 2016 grades

First class females 13.3% males 11.7%

Upper second-class females 57.8% males 54.6%

Lower second-class females 23.7% males 26.7%

Graduates taking on training contracts with law firms i.E. Entering the legal profession

2015 to 2016 Males 2162 97.7% females 3566 62.9%

2014 to 2015 males 2030 97.2% females 3427 62.9%

2013 to 2014 males 1958 99.2% females 3043 60.9%

2012 to 2013 males 2043 99.5% females 3259 69.4%

2011 to 2012 males 3185 99.9% females 4910 60.7%

Percentage change in training contract secured over 10 years

The total number of graduates securing training contracts has fallen by 0.4% to 5728 since 10 years ago, but males have been hit hardest, with female securing more of the available training contracts.

Males-1.7%

Females +  0.4%

Female solicitors versus male solicitors on the roll

2012 Females 79958 49.2% males 86013 51.8%

2013 females 77114 49.6% males 81530 51.4%

2014 females 78627 49.1% males 81767 50.9%

2015 females 83583 49.7% males 80 4643 50.3%

2016 female 88010 50.3% males 87150 49.7%

2016 saw the total number of female solicitors on the role exceed males for the first time ever!

Practicing and female solicitors versus practicing male solicitors

2012 females 61018 47.4% males 67760 52.6%

2013 females 60871 47.7% male 60 66800 52.3%

2014 females 62844 49.2% male 67538 51.9%

2015 females 65147 49.9% male 68220 51.2%

2016 females 67393 49.5% males 68783 50.5%

The gap between the number of female practicing solicitors compared to males is at its lowest ever and if these growth rates are maintained likely to outnumber their male counterparts in 2017!

Number of female partners versus male partners

2012 females 8090 26.7% males 22199 73.3%

2013 females 8115 27.2% males 21748 72.9%

2014 females 7985 27.5% males 21046 72.5%

2015 females 8098 29.2% males 20594 71.9%

2016 females 8105 29.9% males 20082 71.2%

Males still Dominate and partnership females are closing the gap

Females make up almost two-thirds of practicing under 35!

26392 Or 62% practicing female under 35

16167 or 38% practicing male solicitors age under 35

A greater percentage of females occupy in-house positions 2016

56% or 22889 female

44% 17957 male

Over the last five years to 2016 the annual growth in the number of female solicitors average 3.5%

mail solicitors averaged just 1.1% annual growth

As the stats in this infographic show, women in the law are most definitely on the rise and will inevitably overtake many more areas over the next few years.

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