Law firms recognise the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion, and they recognise the need to have a diverse workplace; after all, a large number of studies demonstrate that a more diverse workplace is better for business. Many law firms have cultures and values which embed these important nouns into their business models, and many actively seek to uphold such values throughout their business, attempting to break the bias. While statistics show a slow but steady increase in diversity among all lawyers (based on the SRA’s survey of diversity carried out in 2021, when compared with its 2019 survey) the gender gap at more senior levels remains a challenge, with just 35 per cent of partners being female (compared to 61 per cent of solicitors being female).
The problems
Traditionally, statistics tell the tale of too many females taking time out of their careers to raise a family, or leaving the profession altogether, at a time when many males are pushing for senior roles and partnership. I have heard far too many stories of women apologising for having to leave at 6pm to get home for bath time and bed, in fear of receiving an eye roll in response or a raised eyebrow, to wonder why this is.
Like in many industries, it can be challenging to occupy successful, senior roles in law firms while trying to achieve a work / life balance or care for families with challenging targets, demanding clients and long hours. It is without doubt that the traditional law firm structures and billable hour models do not assist, often rewarding lawyers for staying late (even when they don’t truly need to), or for putting in long hours at the weekends to hit targets, which must be one of the reasons why some firms are diversifying by changing the structures of their business or the way in which they bill clients. While there will be times that this is needed (most lawyers accept that this is part of their job before attending law school), there are more often times where this is not.
These difficulties have caused the profession to lose invaluable talent over the years, which is often talent that firms have invested a significant amount of time, training, and cost in and have nurtured over the years. As well as this lack of retention, it costs firms when clients seek diversity information during a tender process, or when decisions are being made by the management boards and partners which are predominantly male. Steps must therefore continue be taken apace to ensure that this no longer happens and that equality, diversity and inclusion are used as verbs, rather than nouns, both for the moral good and for the balance sheet.
The solutions?
There comes a time where we must recognise that it is not just the long hours that pay the bills. Speak to many GCs, and you will hear that it is the person or teams that they want to instruct – the human element of the instruction is important to clients and, at least some (myself included) would say that, to be a well-rounded human, you must have a life outside of work. This is where the conflict arises between the traditional law firm models and reality. We must recognise that there is value in employees who have more to contribute than just their legal skills and we must somehow find a way to place a value, or a greater value, on this when deciding who is going to lead a client pitch, or when appraising colleagues and encouraging promotions.
In good news, law firms have been waking up to this over recent years. With the growth and recognition of parental rights (as opposed to just maternity leave and two weeks’ paternity leave) which allows partners to share parenting more equally; the adoption of more flexible, agile ways of working following the pandemic; and a gradual closing of the gender pay gap, we are on the right path to help those females with aspirations to gain partnership or senior management to rise to the task and break through the glass ceiling. The more role models that are in place to demonstrate these changes, the more that juniors will see that partnership or senior management really is accessible to all, regardless of your sex.
Law firms are becoming bolder, and the pandemic has helped us to really challenge the norm: I’m not sure many would have foreseen the introduction of policies across the City relating to domestic abuse and coercive control too many years ago. However, more needs to be done and greater value needs to be placed on soft skills as well as legal skills, to ensure that firms remain ahead of the curve and that they keep their best talent (both male and female) to encourage organic growth to partnership or senior management. And so, I finish where I started: gender bias and discrimination still exist, and we must therefore do more to turn the nouns ‘equality’, ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ into verbs.
Charlotte Hill is a senior associate at Penningtons Manches Cooper and president of the Junior London Solicitors Litigation Association
