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Legal Week

Mother of all problems – firms still need to try harder when it comes to women

Sometimes law firms' efforts to boost female representation in the partnership can seem a little trite. We all know the statistics – more than half of new trainees are female and yet many City firms are struggling to get women to make up 20% of their partnerships, despite numerous initiatives in recent years to try to rectify the problem. And the higher up the chain you go the worse the problem inevitably becomes, meaning you don't even need all the fingers on one hand to count the number of female leaders of top 50 law firms. Mentoring, women's groups and flexible working are all now on offer to some degree at most firms in a bid to meet the challenge, with a few going further and introducing targets for the percentage of female partners they want or for women in management roles.
5 minute read

International Edition

Training contracts fall 10% to lowest level since 1999, Law Society reports

The number of training contracts offered at law firms in England and Wales fell 10% in 2011-12 to the lowest level since 1999, according to new research by the Law Society. The society's annual report shows that the number of training contracts registered in the 12 months leading to 31 July 2012 dropped to 4,869, down 10.5% from the previous year's equivalent total of 5,411.
2 minute read

International Edition

Travers loses dispute with former trainee over pregnancy discrimination

Travers Smith has lost a discrimination case brought against it by a former trainee who claimed she was denied a permanent role at the firm after becoming pregnant during her final seat. Katie Tantum instructed law firm Leigh Day to launch the case in February after failing to gain a newly-qualified position in Travers' real estate department.
4 minute read

International Edition

SRA calls on largest law firms to publish diversity data in push to improve access to legal profession

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has called on more of the UK's largest law firms to get involved in its efforts to collate comprehensive diversity statistics following the publication of a major report on the make-up of the legal profession. The regulator last month published its first report, 'Diversity in the legal profession: workforce data for solicitors firms 2012', on the back of the Legal Services Board's (LSB's) controversial plans to force law firms and barristers' chambers to publish internal diversity and social mobility statistics on their websites. The initiative is part of the LSB's push to open up the profession to prospective lawyers from non-traditional backgrounds. The body hopes that by making the information – which is collated by approved regulators such as the SRA – available to clients, pressure will be placed on firms to further improve access to the profession.
3 minute read

International Edition

Magic circle partner promotions fall 17% as female promotions see 60% drop-off

The number of new partners promoted across the magic circle has fallen by 17% this year, with three of the five elite UK firms making up fewer partners in 2013 than they did in 2012. Clifford Chance (CC) and Linklaters this week became the last of the group to announce their new partner promotions for 2013, with CC's 20-strong haul marking a decrease of more than 25% on the 27 the firm made up last year. In total, 79 partners have been made up across the five-firm group this year, down from 95 in 2012. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer saw the biggest decline in new partners at 30%, ahead of CC, while A&O made up 17% fewer partners this year than last.
3 minute read

International Edition

Bakers aims to double female representation among equity

Baker & McKenzie is overhauling its approach to the promotion of female lawyers in a bid to double the proportion of women in its equity partner ranks. The firm, which has a 15% female equity partnership, is aiming to increase this figure to 30% with a shift away from billable hour targets – a factor that has long hampered the career progression of working mothers. More importance will now be placed on individuals' overall non-billable contributions, including their involvement in client and practice development, team building, promotion of firm culture and values, profile-raising and leadership.
3 minute read

International Edition

Linklaters, A&O and Wragges sign up to Government gender reporting initiative

Linklaters, Allen & Overy and Wragge & Co are among a line-up of nine law firms to have signed up to a Government gender reporting initiative that aims to boost equality in the workplace. The trio joined the voluntary 'Think, Act, Report' initiative earlier this year, which encourages companies to share best practice and improve transparency on gender equality issues in business. Six other law firms have already signed up to the scheme: Eversheds was the first firm to sign up in 2011, followed by DWF the same year. Hogan Lovells, DAC Beachcroft, Pinsent Masons and Berwin Leighton Paisner all joined last year.
3 minute read

International Edition

Bar Council launches Bar nursery for children as young as eight weeks

The Bar Council has today (16 April) officially launched the Bar Nursery at Smithfield House, in a bid to support working parents and boost diversity in the profession. The nursery is the result of a campaign led by the Bar Nursery Association, which was established in 2007, to promote a more family-friendly environment at the Bar.
2 minute read

International Edition

A conscious bias – why a little positive discrimination is no bad thing

A reader questioned last month why we had chosen to highlight the fact that all of newly merged Dentons' recent EMEA partner promotions were female. Why was their gender relevant to their promotion, they asked – would we have raised the issue if all four of the new partners were male? And of course, he (or she) has a point. With so few women making partner – despite more of them than men joining the profession at entry level and various initiatives by firms to boost female retention – there is inevitably a bias towards reporting the few that do make the grade.
3 minute read

International Edition

Gender pay gap remains as female salaries lag male counterparts

Male lawyers are earning roughly a third more than their female counterparts despite a growing focus by law firms on gender diversity, according to a new Law Society study of 2012 pay levels. The research, which analysed pay data from 633 individuals working full-time in private practice, found the average salary for a qualified male lawyer of any level stood at £60,000 compared with £44,000 for women. The disparity increased with pay grade, with the top-earning quartile of all male lawyers surveyed paid at least £95,000 – 46% more than their female counterparts, who took home a minimum of £65,000.
4 minute read

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