Women account for one-third of UK partner hires in Q1 2024, report finds
updated on 28 June 2024
Women made up 36% of partner hires in the United Kingdom during Q1 2024, according to Legal Monitor’s latest UK partner hires report. This is up one percentage point on the same quarter last year and is in line with law firms’ gender diversity targets of having women represent one-third of partners.
The Legal Monitor report looked at the hiring trends of 130 leading law firms, using data from press releases, law firm site updates and lawyer profiles to inform its findings.
Across legal practice areas in 2023, women accounted for nearly 50% of partner hires in real estate roles, 43% in regulatory, 30% in litigation and arbitration, and 22% in banking and finance.
In terms of law firm partners more generally, DAC Beachcroft LLP made the most partner hires in 2023 out of the 130 law firms included in the report. This figure was up 117% on the firm’s 2022 hiring number to 26 hires in 2023. Other firms that saw an increase in partner hires included Irwin Mitchell LLP (up from 14 in 2022 to 18 in 2023) and Pinsent Masons LLP (up from 2 in 2022 to 13 in 2023).
While law firms in London led the way when looking at the hiring pattern across UK cities, the number of partner hires recorded in London fell 5% on the previous year – down from 396 in 2022 to 375 in 2023. Unsurprisingly, the other major UK legal hubs also featured on this list, including Manchester (30), Birmingham (20) and Bristol (10). In 2023, Birmingham and Edinburgh saw a 300% and 200% increase in partner hiring activity, respectively – the biggest increase among these cities.
When looking at the types of law firms partners were hired into, UK law firms came out on top, accounting for 56% of partner hires in the United Kingdom, closely followed by US law firms which made up 30% of the share. Hybrid/merged global law firms made up the remaining 14%.
Legal Monitor is the leading global database of lawyers for recruitment, market intelligence and business development. Reports are published regularly on partner hires across the world.
