A fair & equitable profession? Joshua Purser & Govindi Deerasinghe explore some troubling research
The legal profession is fond of describing itself as the guardian of fairness. We speak of equality before the law as if it were an agreed fact rather than a principle that must be continually defended. What the inaugural Global Justice 50/50 Report ‘Gender (In)Justice?’ makes patently clear is that the justice sector is failing to meet the standards it demands of others. Across 171 organisations assessed, the picture is consistent and troubling: power remains concentrated in the hands of a narrow demographic, and the legal profession’s internal inequities pose a direct threat to public trust.
The evidence is stark. Men still occupy 71% of top seats in global and regional courts and 80% in internationally operating elite law firms. Leadership is not only overwhelmingly male, but also overwhelmingly drawn from wealthy countries. 81% of holders of highest offices are nationals of high-income countries, while just 1% are women from low-income countries. 25% are men from the US alone. These are not marginal imbalances. They
