IWD: Women are still missing from top roles at law firms, but times are changing

Women make up over half (53 per cent) of lawyers working in law firms across England, yet, when it comes to partnership, that number is significantly lower.

Across England, 37 per cent of partners are women, that number is even lower for London, as women make up just 33 per cent of partner-level roles across City firms.

It’s no surprise that women are underrepresented at partner levels in firms of all sizes, but to a greater extent, they are lacking in the senior positions at the larger law firms, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) diversity data tool.

Sarah Chilton, senior partner at CM Murray highlighted that there is “certainly no lack of women entering the profession, but that drops significantly when entering partnership”.

She explained that law firms may say that it is “partly self-selection,” which she noted, that “they would be right.”

However, she pointed out that you have to ask why many women don’t want to become partners, and the answer is on individual cases, “but a common thread is that it is a very hard thing to juggle with a family”. She stated that “like it or not” the “stats tell us women do the majority of childcare admin when they have children”.

Chilton detailed that partners are so often rewarded on the basis of, metrics, including client introductions, the value of work done on matters they manage and client relationships. The client introductions and personal billings are still the two most critical criteria for partnership reward evaluation in professional services.

“These challenges are obvious for those female senior associates looking ahead and so many of them think it just seems too difficult to juggle at a time in their lives when they are responsible for small and demanding children,” she added.

Despite that, the lack of gender balance at partnership levels at law firms is increasingly becoming a priority.

On Thursday, UK law firm TLT set out its ambitious target to achieve 50 per cent female representation at partner level by 2029. Last year, the firm achieved 33 per cent female representation at partner level, two years ahead of its 2025 target.

The firm introduced its gender strategy in 2019 in collaboration with the Women’s Equality Network (WEN). Over the last three years, women at TLT have made up 66 per cent of partner promotions.

Speaking to City A.M., Helen Hodgkinson, chief people officer at law firm TLT said: “We’re holding ourselves accountable to do better when it comes to diversifying senior roles. Let’s be clear – anyone can set a target but what is important is how we intend to achieve those targets.”

She explained that there are some barriers that continue to persist during the career of female lawyers, such as long hours, lack of support, flexibility and role models.

She explained that the firm has introduced a series of initiatives to support women at work, including a market-leading enhanced family leave programme for expecting parents and a flexible working model.

“Flexible working is embedded in the culture at TLT. It is providing women with the support to be able to balance their home and work life, which is vital if we want to provide a clear pathway to the top,” Hodgkinson added.

Katie McCann, managing partner at Lowry Legal pointed out that “with more awareness around the needs of the modern family and the role both parents have to play in that, issues such as child care and school drop-offs are now not seen as the sole domain of the mother”.

“So firms are therefore offering more flexible working hours, more remote working and more accommodating work to ensure that routes to partnership are open to everyone,” she noted.

She added that at Lowry Legal, the firm has “actively promoted this healthy balance”, with 75 per cent of its partners being female, and 50 per cent having young families.

Several law firms are introducing several policies to tackle the issue of parenthood. Last year, Clyde and Co. announced an enhanced parental leave policy which offers 26 weeks off, fully paid, regardless of gender or parental role. Since then, other firms have followed by embedding enhanced parental leave, including Lewis Silkin and Ashurst.

As Hodgkinson points out: “You don’t need to fix women, they are smart and ambitious. You do need to fix the system so it accommodates women at all stages of their career.”