Sally Brett is Head of Diversity & Inclusion of The Law Society. In this blog, she talks about the importance of diversity, equality and inclusion in maintaining trust in English and Welsh Justice.
From the high street to the high court, the legal profession must reflect the society it serves. Diversity, equality and inclusion are essential to the future success of the profession and maintaining trust in English and Welsh justice.
There is compelling evidence that collaboration between individuals with diverse perspectives leads to better solutions when solving complex knowledge-based problems[1]. To drive excellence, we increasingly need a solicitor profession that recruits, retains and progresses people who are talented, diverse and able to work collaboratively.
Equality and fairness are integral to the rule of law. Those involved in delivering legal services and developing the law must understand the needs of different communities and be able to engage and explain their rights to them. Studies have shown that when there is some visible demographic diversity in a group, individuals are more likely to engage in thorough information exchange and deliberation, and consciously seek to counter bias.
Significant progress has been made in diversifying the profession in the past 25 years, especially in terms of gender and ethnicity. In this 100th year of women joining the roll, the latest statistics show women now make up almost two-thirds of new entrants and just over half of the profession overall. Compared to 1994, the proportion of solicitors who are Black, Asian or minority ethnic has quadrupled.
But gaps in representation remain and there are challenges to ensuring equity and inclusion across the board. Women in private practice are still less likely than men to make it to partner. Minority ethnic solicitors are more likely to become partners in small firms (2-4 partners) and they are almost three times as likely to become sole practitioners. The Law Society’s Race for Inclusion research in 2020 highlighted a key factor driving the ethnic ‘stay gap’ in large firms was a lack of inclusion.
Only 5% of solicitors have identified as disabled in the latest data collection exercise for the SRA, a figure that has barely changed in the past decade. This is partly due to barriers disabled people face in entering the profession and our Lawyers with Disabilities Division has been working with the SRA to ensure that the new SQE is accessible, for example. The landmark Legally Disabled? research we participated in with Cardiff Business School, also found disabled lawyers were fearful of identifying as disabled in case it led to career penalties or discrimination – a further signal of how far we must go.
Our recent Pride in the Law survey suggests that some progress has been made on LGBT+ inclusion in the past decade, with a higher proportion feeling confident being out at work. But the findings also indicate uneven progress and ongoing isolation for many in the LGBT+ legal community.
The Law Society is challenging and supporting its members to have the conversations and to take the difficult but necessary action to accelerate change. In 2022, we have been working with the City of London Corporation’s Taskforce on Socio-Economic Diversity in professional services, conducting roundtables for the legal sector around the country. The final recommendations for action will be launched by the Taskforce in November.
We’ve also been focusing on what we can do to help talented candidates from lower socio-economic backgrounds overcome the common barriers to entering the profession by expanding our Diversity Access Scheme which provides financial scholarships, work experience and mentoring support.
Later in 2022, we will be publishing a new framework to help firms embed diversity and inclusion in their businesses, guiding them on how to identify their specific challenges, plan action and ensure learning and performance against key metrics.
For more information about our activities on diversity and inclusion: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/diversity-and-inclusion
[1] e.g. see Scott. E. Page’s The Diversity Bonus or Matthew Syed’s Rebel Ideas
More stories
