Partnerships at large firms still overwhelmingly dominated by the privately educated, finds SRA

The biggest diversity survey yet to take place in the legal profession has found that privately educated solicitors remain vastly overrepresented in the senior ranks of large firms.

The third diversity survey by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) was completed by 170,000 people across 9,000 law firms in England and Wales. As the Law Society Gazette reports, the survey found that 22% of lawyers are privately educated compared to 7% of the country’s population, with this rising to 37% among partners at large firms.

There has been some limited progress in diversity, with 53% of lawyers being the first in their families to go to university – rising to 60% among partners. Meanwhile, women make up 47% of solicitors and are expected to make up over 50% of the profession by 2017, but this is not the whole story. Only a third of the women surveyed are partners, while only 27% were senior members of the partnership at firms with over 50 partners.

Black and minority ethnic people remain hugely underrepresented in the legal profession, with black lawyers making up just 2% of respondents to the survey and 1% of partners in small firms. The same underrepresentation is true for people who identify as disabled, who made up 3% of respondents.

Paul Philip, chief executive of the SRA, said: “Encouraging diversity in legal services is not about ticking boxes. It is of course the right thing to do, but it also helps to make sure the sector is as competitive as possible. There should not be any barriers stopping the best people – whatever their background – thriving in the law.”