A Profile of the Solicitors’ Profession 2000-2004

Numbers of solicitors with/without PCs and on the Roll 2000-2004

2000 2004%

change

With PCs 82,769 96,757 +16.9

Without PCs 21,769 24,408 +12.1

On the Roll 104,538 121,165 +15.9

Practising Certificate Holders 1950-2004

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Year

Nu

mb

er

of

ho

lders

All

Women

Men

Average age of PC holders by gender

  Average age

2000 2004

Men 43 44

Women 36 37

Ethnicity of PC holders

• In 2000, 2,170 (6%) of PC holders were from minority ethnic groups

• In 2004, this number had risen to 8,031 (8%)

Minority ethnic group solicitors as a % of PC holders 1991-2004

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Years

% o

f P

C h

old

ers

% All (known ethnicity)

% Males

% Females

Minority ethnic group PC holders 1991-2004

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Year

N

African-Caribbean

Asian

Chinese

African

Other Ethnic origin

All Minority Ethnic

PQE of PC holders (2000-2004)

Years of PQE

2000 2004 % change

50+ 0 0 0

40-49 2 1 -1

30-39 7 8 +1

20-29 19 18 -1

10-19 24 23 -1

0-9 48 49 +1

Category of employment(2000-2004)

• 19.7% of PC holders in 2000 worked in the employed sector, in 2004 this figure had risen to 22%

• One third of employed solicitors in 2004 work in commerce and industry (33%)

• Warning: Data on employed sector solicitors should be treated with caution. The number of solicitors working in the employed sector is likely to be much greater, as employed sector solicitors are not required to hold a PC.

Employed solicitors (2004)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Trade Union

Health services

Accountancy

Court

Nationalised industry

Government department

Educational est

Government funded services

Advice service

Others

CPS

Local Government

Unattached

Commerce/industryC

ate

go

ry o

f e

mp

loy

me

nt

%

Solicitors in Private Practice (2000-2004)

• 80% of PC holders in 2000 worked in private practice (66% male, 34% female)

• In 2004, 78% of PC holders worked in private practice (62% male, 38% female)

Position within private practice (2000-2004)

2000 2004 % change

Partners 43 37 -6

Sole practice 7 6 -1

Ass/Associates 45 48 +3

Others 5 9 +4

Position within private practice by gender (2000-2004)

2000 2004

% of males

% of females

% of males

% of females

Partners 53 24 47 22

Sole practice 8 4 7 3

Distribution of private practice solicitors by size of firm (2000-2004)

• The number of solicitors working in large firms (11+ partners) increased by 11% from 2000 to 2004

• The number working in firms with 5-10 partners dropped by 4%

• The number working in sole practices also dropped, by 3%

Distribution of private practice solicitors by size of firm (2000-2004)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60%

of s

olic

itors

Sole Practice 2-4 partners 5-10 partners 11+ partners

Size of firm

2000

2004

Number of private practice firms (2000-2004)

Size of firm (partner count)

Sole practice

2-4 5-10 11+ All

2000 3,468 3,454 950 447 8,319

2004 4,176 3,656 904 475 9211

% change 00-04 +20 +5.8 -4.8 +6.2 +10.7

Private practice firms and offices (2000-2004)

Firms OfficesOffices per

firm

2000 9,770 13,561 1.4

2004 9,211 12,579 1.4

% change over 00-04

-5.7 -7.2 0

Student enrolment (2000-2004)

2000 2004%

change

Number of enrolments

7,793 9,831 26

% Male 40 37 -3

% Female 60 63 +3

% from Minority ethnic groups

22 24 +2

Trainee registration (2000-2004)

2000 2004 % change

Trainees 5,285 5,708 +8

% Male 43 38 -5

% Female 57 62 +5

Trainee registration by ethnicity (2004)

• 19% of trainees with known ethnicity, were from minority ethnic groups

• The minority ethnic group most highly represented was ‘Asian’, which accounted for 57% of ethnic minority trainees

Admissions (2000-2004)

2000 2004 % change

Admissions 6,056 7,247 +19.6

% Male 47 43 -4

% Female 53 57 +4

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Career Choices in Law:A survey of Law

Students and Trainee Solicitors

January 2004

Students were asked what were their priorities in choosing a career:

Base: 1,992 students

% of Males % of Females

Security of employment 20.5 26.9

Plenty of jobs likely to be available 6.0 6.3

High starting salary 8.6 6.1

Financial cost of completing the necessary training 5.7 6.3

Long term salary prospects 19.3 11.6

Status of the profession 3.2 1.6

Intrinsic interest in the work 27.9 37.4

Value of the work to the community 3.1 2.0

Impact of job/ work on social life 3.9 1.5

Other 1.7 0.4

Trainees were asked what were their priorities in choosing a career:

Base: 1,522 trainees

% of Males % of Females

Security of employment 14.3 18.5

Plenty of jobs likely to be available 1.6 2

High starting salary 5.6 2.8

Financial cost of completing the necessary training 2.9 3

Long term salary prospects 21.9 11

Status of the profession 7.8 5.6

Intrinsic interest in the work 39.7 52.3

Value of the work to the community 2.3 2.1

Impact of job/ work on social life 1.6 0.7

Other 2.3 2

Students were asked to state their favoured area of practice

Base: 1,992 trainees

% of Males % of Females

Business and commercial affairs 51.6 38.9

Social Welfare 3.2 5.0

Criminal 19.7 19.6

Family and relationship problems 2.9 15.8

Conveyancing and wills 2.2 2.6

Human rights 7.1 5.8

Civil litigation 7.6 4.2

Don't know 4.2 4.8

None of the above 1.5 3.2

Trainees were asked to state their favoured area of practice

Base: 1,552 trainees

% of Males % of Females

Business and commercial affairs 61.6 44.3

Social Welfare 0.2 0.5

Criminal 4.5 4.6

Family and relationship problems 1.7 7.1

Conveyancing and wills 3.1 7.5

Human rights 2.1 1.7

Civil litigation 17.2 18.7

Don't know 6 10.1

None of the above 3.5 5.6

Students were asked what their career aspirations were:

Base: 1,992 students

Percentage of respondents (%)

Male Female

To become a solicitor 47.3 50.7

To become a barrister 15.5 12.6

To become a legal executive 0.6 0.7

To work in the legal profession, although undecided in what capacity 15.1 20.1

To work in a non-legal capacity in the private sector 9.3 6.5

To work in a non-legal capacity in the public sector 5.9 5.7

Other 6.3 3.8

Business Survey

2003

2003 Salary Survey – Sources of fee income

Fee Income from different types of work• Single solicitors obtained most of their income (40%)

from residential conveyancing• Similar to single solicitors, excluding other matters,

firms with 2–5 and 6-12 solicitors also gained most of their income from residential conveyancing (19% and 20% respectively).

• Larger firms (13 – 40 solicitors) gained most of their income from personal injury, accident and clinical negligence (21%)

• Firms with 41 – 170 solicitors derived most of their income (39%) from business and commercial affairs

• For those firms sampled, welfare benefits provided almost no fee income at all.

Base: 1188 firms in England in Wales

2003 Salary Survey – Sources of fee income by region

• Business and commercial affairs provided 42% of the income for London firms, this is more than twice the proportion earned by firms in the North and the South (18% and 16% respectively).

• Firms in the Midlands and Wales also obtain most of their income (23%) from business and commercial affairs, though it is a far less important source of income for them than it is for London firms.

• Firms in the North received most of their income from personal injury, accident and medical negligence (23%) whilst firms in the south derived much of their income from residential conveyancing (20%).

Base: 1188 firms in England in Wales

2003 Salary Survey – Sources of fee income by client type

• Firms with up to 40 solicitors tended to receive most of their income from non-legally aided private clients (between 47% and 69%).

• Large firms deviated from this trend and received the majority of their income (51%) from private sector firms. However, the second greatest source of income for firms of this size was non-legally aided private clients (19%)

• An important source of income for firms with 12 solicitors or less was legally aided private clients. For firms with 13 – 40 solicitors private sector firms were a more important source of income (33%) legally aided clients

Base: 1188 firms in England in Wales

2003 Salary Survey – Future Trends

Number of partners• Just under three quarters of respondents

anticipated that the number of partners would stay the same. However, 23% expected the number of partners to increase. It should be noted that larger firms tended to expect the number of partners to increase (57%) whilst almost all single solicitors (92%) expected the numbers to stay the same

Number of fee earners (excluding partners)• Just over half (51%) expected the number of fee

earners to increase, whilst slightly fewer expected the number to stay the same. Again, larger firms were more likely to expect an increase.

Number of non-fee earning staff• Almost two thirds of respondents (63%) expected

the number of non fee earning staff to stay the same

Base: 1188 firms in England in Wales

2003 Salary Survey – Future Trends

Number of partners• Just under three quarters of respondents

anticipated that the number of partners would stay the same. However, 23% expected the number of partners to increase. It should be noted that larger firms tended to expect the number of partners to increase (57%) whilst almost all single solicitors (92%) expected the numbers to stay the same

Number of fee earners (excluding partners)• Just over half (51%) expected the number of fee

earners to increase, whilst slightly fewer expected the number to stay the same. Again, larger firms were more likely to expect an increase.

Number of non-fee earning staff• Almost two thirds of respondents (63%) expected

the number of non fee earning staff to stay the same

Base: 1188 firms in England in Wales

Salary Survey2004

Satisfaction with opportunities to obtain partnership

Replies from 344 Associate / Assistant Solicitors

14

16

35

26

9

0 10 20 30 40

Very dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

Satisfied

Very satisfied

Percentage

Do you hope to become an equity partner?

• Just under half (49%) of the 344 Associate/ Assistant solicitors surveyed wanted to become an equity partner.

• 61% of males wanted to become an equity partner compared to 39% of females

49

61

39

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Overall

Men

Women

Percentage

When do you hope to become an equity partner?

Replies from 158 Associate / Assistant Solicitors

19

18

33

12

15

3

0.7

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

1-2 years

3-4 years

5-6 years

7-8 years

9 - 10 years

11 - 15 years

16 - 20 years

Percentage

How many years did you work as an associate solicitor before you became a partner?

Replies from 296 partners

21

2624

15

85

0.6

0.40.4

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Less than 3 years

5-6 years

9-10 years

16-20 years

26-30 years

Percentage

How many years did you work as an associate solicitor before you became a partner?

Mean number of years as an associate or assistant solicitor before becoming a partner:

Women: 0.82 years

Men: 1.81 years

Replies from 296 partners

Women’s Study2003

Percentage of individuals that have considered leaving the profession

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Private Practice

Employed Sector

Overall

Percentage

Men Women

Non-renewal of PCs by gender and age 2002/2003

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

<30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-65 >60

Age

% o

f gen

der Women

Men

•61% of female non-renewers were aged between 31-40, compared to 23% of male non-renewers.

•59% of male non-renewers were over 50 compared to 16% of females.