The lawyer demographic is becoming more diverse overall but sharp discrepancies remain, the latest Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) figures show
About 21% of solicitors attended fee-paying schools, rising to 32% at larger law firms, compared to 7% of the general population.
A mere 3% of solicitors describe themselves as disabled, compared to 13% of the UK workforce.
Nearly half of all solicitors are women (49%), up one per cent since 2017, but that figure decreases to one third at partner level.
The number of Asian solicitors has risen from 9% to 15% in the past five years, but is lower (5%) at larger firms. By comparison, Asian employees make up 7% of the UK workforce as a whole.
Paul Philip, SRA chief executive, said: ‘There is clearly much more work to be done.’
