Survey reveals growing lawyer diversity

The Scottish solicitor profession is becoming more diverse, though the rate of progress is not equal across all fronts, according to the latest data released by the Law Society of Scotland.

Data collected – all anonymously – as part of the 2022-23 practising certificate renewal process show a profession more ethnically diverse, and more female, than on the first such exercise in 2020-21. The data, which will help the Society understand better what the profession looks like, support the Society’s equality and diversity work, and track changes within the profession over time, will be collected every two years.

How you responded

Around 80% of members (more than 9,000 in total) completed the 2022-23 diversity data, in line with the proportion of respondents in 2020-21. Major change would not be expected over that period, particularly when the majority of the respondents will have been the same, although there were over 1,000 individuals who could have responded for the first time in 2022-23. However the key findings include:

• The Scottish legal profession continues to become gradually more ethnically diverse: 86.48% of solicitors are white, compared to 88.01% in 2020/21, and more than 10% of solicitors aged 30 and under are from an ethnic minority background, up more than 3% in two years. At least 4.01% of the profession is from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background, up 0.63% in two years. (The true percentage is likely to be higher, having regard to those who chose not to disclose, or answered “other”.) However, progress is not equal across all ethnicities. For example, solicitors under 30 from a Pakistani background have increased, while those under 30 from a Chinese background have decreased.
• Almost 57% of solicitors are female, compared with 55% two years ago.
• There continues to be an acute issue attracting young men from an ethnic minority background into the profession, although they now comprise 32.63% of ethnic minority solicitors under 30, compared with 28% two years ago.
• At least 4.18% of the profession is LGBTQ+, compared to 3.2% in 2020-21, and those so identifying rise to 6.6% for the under 30s.
• At least 5.67% of the profession has a disability, such as blindness, deafness or a mobility impairment, compared to 4.8% in 2020-21. The biggest single change was the number of people who indicated they had a learning disability and those indicating they were neurodivergent.
• More than 47% of Scottish solicitors do not subscribe to a religion, up 1% on 2020-21.
• At least 67.1% of the solicitor population is state educated, compared to 66.7% in 2020-21. This proportion increases to at least 72.94% of those aged under 30.

The findings are intended to complement the in-depth Profile of the Profession research that is conducted every five years. The most recent Profile of the Profession survey ran earlier this year, and the results will be published in late summer.

You cannot be what you cannot see

The Society believes that collecting and compiling such data is important to two ways; first, to let it see and measure how representative the profession is of the world we live and operate in; and, secondly, to let potential new entrants see that there is a place for them in the world of law.

Encouraging and cultivating a more diverse range of entrants into the profession brings different views, different insights, and different voices to the table, which all contribute to a more vital and representative workforce. Scotland’s national diversity does not stand still, and if solicitors are to best understand and represent their clients, neither can the profession.

Sheila Webster, President of the Law Society of Scotland, commented: “While there is only so much change that can happen within the profession in a two year period, it is encouraging that the broad theme in each area is of progress towards a more representative profession that better reflects the society it serves.

“Of course, there is more yet to do, but the data provides us a strong evidence base to help set effective policies to address the issues identified and measure our progress towards a more inclusive profession.”

Access the full report via the Society’s news release of 23 June 2023.

The next set of diversity data will be collated during the PC renewal process of autumn 2024.