BAME lawyers still struggle to achieve partnership in elite firms, says The Law Society
Only 8% of partners in the UK’s top 50 firms come from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, representing a rise of 1% since 2014, a new report by The Law Society has revealed.
According to the report entitled: “ Race for inclusion: the experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic solicitors”, released on December 9, BAME representation is lower in larger firms and almost three-quarters of partners in firms with a turnover greater than £100million are white males.
The report stated: “In the largest 50 UK firms (by turnover), more than twice as many white solicitors as BAME solicitors achieve partner equivalent status. This has not improved significantly over the years, despite improvements in representation at junior levels,” said the report.
The study was based on research carried out by agency DJS Research, as well as roundtable discussions carried out by the Law Society and its ethnic minority lawyers division (EMLD) during 2020 to understand the experiences of BAME lawyers at different points in their careers.
David Greene, president of the Law Society, said: “The research is timely, given the global events of 2020. The killing of George Floyd on May 25 and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests around the world brought the issues of racism and racial inequality into much sharper focus, and it was against this backdrop that much of the research was conducted.”
The report noted that there were several barriers to BAME lawyers when it came to progressing to partnership, including a lack of sponsorship and guidance, differential allocation of good work opportunities and, more generally, not fitting into the predominantly white culture of many law firms.
“The desire to raise issues around diversity and discrimination, is felt to be at odds with progressing to the level of partnership,” said the report.
A mixed picture
It also showed that representation across BAME groups shows a mixed picture, with Asian lawyers comprising 10% of the legal workforce, an increase of 3% since 2019. However, black lawyers make up just 3% of the workforce—the same figure recorded a year earlier.
The report added that while many talented candidates persevere, they find that when it comes to entering a law firm, the organisations are often looking for a certain ’fit’ of candidate—which often excludes BAME groups.
The culture of law firms, particularly larger City firms, is not considered by BAME lawyers to be Inclusive, the report said.
The BAME lawyers surveyed frequently reported feeling like an outsider and not being given the same opportunities as their white counterparts, especially if they did not have the opportunity to attend private school.
“There is an intersection with a disadvantaged socio-economic background and not having the opportunity to attend an independent school or schools for some Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups,” said the report.
According to lobby group TheCityUK’s annual report, published last month, UK lawyers are still “disproportionately likely” to come from privileged backgrounds, with three times as many (21%) having attended fee-paying schools than the national UK average (7%), a new report has revealed.
The Law Society’s report also found that BAME lawyers report lower levels of wellbeing at work. Nearly a quarter of BAME lawyers (24%) reported severe or extreme stress compared to 18% of white lawyers.
Adverse discrimination and bullying
According to the report, 13% of BAME lawyers reported they had experienced adverse discrimination while 16% reported bullying, compared to 8% and 13% respectively for their white counterparts.
BAME solicitors also see slower career development up to and including partner status, which led to an adverse effect on the retention rates of BAME lawyers, said the report. Around half of female BAME lawyers have moved firm or sector between 2015 to 2020, according to the study.
Additionally, the pay gap is particularly marked when comparing the average annual salarIes of white and BAME lawyers where the difference could be as much as more than £20,000 per year.
BAME lawyers also felt white trainees were typically encouraged towards corporate and commercial work, while they were “pushed” towards personal injury, legal aid, immigration and family work, said the report.
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