News In Focus
9 July 2007
Profession attracts broad range of recruits
There's no such thing as the "old boys network" any more, according to research published today by the Law Society of Scotland.
More than 3,000 solicitors, almost a third of the entire Scottish profession, responded to the survey, which is one of the first from a UK professional body to monitor all strands of equality including age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and transgender status.
The research follows the 2005 Women in the Legal Profession survey, which revealed that more women are entering law. By 2011 it is estimated that there will be more female solicitors than male.
Range of backgrounds
This latest study, carried out by The Grange Group, reveals a profession made up of people from a range of backgrounds which broadly reflects the make up of Scotland's population. Far from having a strong "old boys network", fewer than 6% of solicitors' fathers worked in the legal profession.
Neil Stevenson, head of diversity at the Society, said: "It is just not the case that to be a Scottish solicitor you had to have someone in the family in the profession and the results show that this hasn't been the case for a number of years - only 10% of respondents over 46 had a father who was a solicitor.
"We could not have anticipated such a strong response and are delighted that so many members of the profession took the time to complete the questionnaire. It reveals a changing profession with people from across all social classes.
"The study also provides a very useful set of data which has helped us build an accurate profile of the profession today, compare this to sources such as the Scottish census data, and in the future will allow us to monitor changes and identify new trends.
"It also provides information for firms which will serve a practical purpose including how they recruit and retain staff or tender for certain types of business, such as the public sector."
The survey questionnaire was split into four areas. The first focused on a demographic profile on the strands of equality, such as race/ethnicity or sexual orientation. The second looked at how people had qualified into the profession and their background. Current career details were collected in section three with the final part looking at experiences of discrimination, issues within the legal profession and what solicitors expected from the Society.
Discrimination and bullying
One of the most serious issues to arise from the research was that up to 22% of the respondents felt they had been discriminated against at some point during their career - from the allocation of work or being excluded from communication to bullying. And 9% of those suffering discrimination reported it.
Stevenson said: "This is a real concern for us and should be a concern to the wider profession. Even although the study may not fully represent our 10,000 members, it means that 662 individuals feel they have suffered some form of discrimination at work. The fact that more than a third are under the age of 35 means it is still a current issue.
"While this figure is high, we have found the situation to be similar in other professions. However we need to work to address this and engage with firms to ensure that their policies and working practices are not discriminatory.
"Suggestions from respondents support this with the most common being for the Society to promote best practice, issue guidelines on discrimination to all solicitors, provide training and offer an advisory service."
The Society is already looking at how to tackle this and will be encouraging firms to examine the survey data to ensure they could not fall foul of a discrimination claim. Increasing numbers of firms also realise there is a strong business case for ensuring they manage equality issues, whether in an effort to reduce costs by lowering staff turnover, raise morale or attract clients.
The Society also published its Gender Equality Scheme in June, following on from its Disability Equality Scheme which both address specific points in the research, and will review its entire equality strategy next year.
Study leads best practice
Farah Adams, convener of the Society's equality and diversity committee and who works for A & R Robertson & Black WS in Blairgowrie, said: "This is important research and the results highlight that the profession is more diverse than some may have imagined and that it is actively dealing with equality issues. The project is an example of the Society going beyond minimum compliance and leading best practice in this area.
"Legal firms are having to compete not just with each other, but with other professions for the best candidates. If they are to continue to attract and retain high quality graduates, improve accessibility for clients and those seeking to enter the profession, and keep the confidence of clients and the public, we have to prove that we are tackling these issues.
"This research also highlights the changes which must take place to eliminate any type of discrimination in the profession and legal firms should think seriously about ensuring they have the correct procedures in place to stay ahead.
"There is also much more of an emphasis on work/life balance and firms are increasingly aware that it's not just a case of offering an attractive salary to potential recruits; flexible working opportunities could really put them ahead when it comes to finding the person they want. It's interesting to note that of the 24% of the profession who had taken a career break, only 60% related to maternity leave and the rest included taking a sabbatical, sick leave and other reasons.
She added: "In some ways I represent the changes that are happening in law. I retrained as a solicitor in my mid-30s, took two breaks for maternity leave during my training period, and now work part-time. As a result, I have learned that to be a good solicitor, one of the most important things is to ensure that you work well rather than simply count the number of hours you spend in the office."
A full copy of the report and original questionnaire are available on the Law Society of Scotland website -
www.lawscot.org.uk/diversity