A diversity survey from the family lawyers’ group Resolution has found that three-quarters of family lawyers are women and that those from black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are under-represented.
The survey found that family lawyers were generally older than the wider solicitor population and that there were also very few Muslim members of the organisation.
Based on responses from over 3,000 of the 6,500 members, it found that only 24% were male, which confirmed the “received wisdom” that family law is a predominantly female area of legal practice.
Researchers stated, however, that there was a lack of other publically available statistics against which to compare, and Resolution had contacted the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to request its data.
“Without those statistics it’s impossible to say whether our membership reflects the sector.”
A large majority of respondents were solicitors (75%), with legal executives constituting 8%, finance professionals 4.5%, barristers 3% and mediators 2.7%.
The report said that Resolution members were “disproportionately white”, and that over 86% of family lawyers were white, in line with the figure for the UK workforce. The most recent research from the SRA in 2017 stated, however, that 21% of solicitors in private practice came from a BAME background.
When looking at the religious makeup of the industry, the survey found that Muslims were most underrepresented in the Resolution membership, along with Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews “to a lesser extent”.
Less than 2.4% of respondents (numbering 73) identified as Muslim, while 77 said they were Jewish and 76 Hindu.
Taking in the SRA’s figures, there is actually a higher proportion of Muslim solicitors (8%) than in the UK workforce as a whole (5%).
Members of Resolution were more likely to have no religion, or identify as athiest, than other solicitors or workers in the UK. A small majority said they were Christian (53%) while a third (33%) stated they had no religion.
Family lawyers were more diverse than members of other branches of the legal profession when it came to sexual orientation, with 54 members saying they were gay men, 35 as bisexual, and 34 gay women or lesbians.
“The sexual orientation of Resolution’s membership reflects that of the UK population”.
The survey also found that family lawyers were also more likely to have attended a state school in the UK (73.5%) than other lawyers, and less likely to have been educated abroad. The statistics, confusingly, also seemed to indicate that they were also more likely to have attended a UK private school than other lawyers.
Researchers said this result was “skewed because they are far less likely to have been educated outside the UK than the rest of the lawyer population regulated by the SRA” – a tenth of all solicitors were educated outside the UK, compared to 3.5% of Resolution members.
7.5% of members said they were registered as disabled which was higher than solicitors overall, however lower than the figure for the rest of the UK workforce. Lack of mobility (25%) was the most common disability while mental illness accounted for 15% and deafness 14%.
Respondents to the survey were generally older than other lawyers, with only 20% aged 25-34, compared to 29% across the industry. A third of members said they were the primary carer for a child under the age of 18.
The researchers concluded that Resolution should consider increasing the number of younger and BAME members within the organisation and that the results would help develop a diversity strategy.
“This will include the development of a diversity policy and then an action plan. Once an action plan has been implemented, we will use this data as a benchmark so that we can measure the success (or not) of the action we’ve taken.”
About The Family Mediation Practice
The Family Mediation Practice is a team of independent family mediators who help divorcing and separating couples to come to an agreement rather than fighting things out in the courts.
Depending on your circumstances, legal aid could be available to fund your family mediation.
Contact The Family Mediation Practice
You can contact any of our independent family mediators direct by calling 0333 567 0377. You can also send a confidential message by clicking here.
