As part of research for the Chambers Student Guide this year we asked firms to provide us with diversity statistics covering ethnicity and gender among both their associate and partner ranks.
Please note: this survey is from 2013. For our most up-to-date diversity statistics please see our 2014 surveys:
- Ethnicity in the law
- Gender in the law
105 firms provided us with data on gender diversity, while 90 provided us with information on how many of their lawyers come from an ethnic minority background. (Note that not all firms who gave us data did so for both their partner and associate groups.)
Some of our major findings:
- US and magic circle firms score below average when it comes to representation of women, but above average for ethnic diversity; on average, a fifth of associates at magic circle firms come from an ethnic minority background.
- According to Law Society statistics, 39.3% of students taking the LPC in 2011/12 came from ethnic minority backgrounds. Not a single firm we surveyed comes close to matching this figure in its associate or partner ranks.
- Regional firms come out top for representation of women.
- Over two-thirds of firms we surveyed had more female than male associates. But male partners outnumber female partners at all but two of the 104 firms which provided us with statistics.
This feature was first published in our November 2013 newsletter.