Law’s gender pay gap: A snapshot
Research published this quarter shows that the legal sector has one of the largest disparities in earnings between men and women on both sides of the pond. WIPR Diversity takes an overview of recent findings.
The gender pay gap remains a big problem for law, with the latest research revealing that men in the US legal field earn on average nearly 60% more than their female counterparts.
According to research published by Forbes Advisor in March 2024, men take home on average $119,444 a year in law compared to $75,140 earned by women, equating to a yearly difference of $44,304. This payroll disparity is the largest among the various industries in the survey.
The report notes that while many might believe a higher education level equates to higher pay, this does not hold true for women in all industries when it comes to the gender pay gap.
Women with a bachelor’s degree earn 74 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts with the same level of education.
Further, the pay gap between men and women only widens with more education.
The UK’s pay gap
The picture in law is slightly better in the UK. However, barristers and judges still have one of the largest pay gaps in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
On average, female barristers and judges earned nearly 30% less than men in the judiciary or bar.
Solicitors and lawyers fare better, with the survey showing that the gender pay gap between men and women comes in just slightly more than 10%.
The research looked at the median hourly earnings of 156,000 men and women, 1% of the UK workforce, across a range of professions.
The Law Society of England and Wales also published its pay gap report this quarter, showing that the 2023 median pay gap between male and female members is 8% (in favour of male staff), which is lower than the national average of 14.3%.
Unpacking the problem
Commenting on the findings, Law Society chief executive officer, Ian Jeffery, said: “Reducing our pay gaps to zero does not automatically equate to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive.
“Our actions are designed to further unpack what is causing our pay gaps and realise our broader equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) vision.”
To provide greater transparency, the Law Society also published disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation/identity and trans identity pay gap figures.
White members earned 11.7% more than their counterparts from ethnic minority backgrounds, while the median pay gap for sexual orientation/identity and trans identity is 7.7% (in favour of cisgender heterosexual staff).
WIPR has partnered with The International Trademark Association on a survey investigating how gender affects the experience of trademark practitioners in the workplace—the results will form the basis of INTA’s soon-to-be released gender indicator report. Read more about the forthcoming report and tune into the webinar, ‘Overcoming the Broken Pipeline’.
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