News
Official: drastic drop in training contracts
- 20th January 2010
The number of training contracts registered in 2008/09 fell by nearly 8%, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)’s latest statistics on the profession. The Law Society expected a fall and the report explains it is as “consistent with the impact of the recession on private practice firms who provide the bulk of training contracts”.
The figures also reveal the disturbing trend that male trainees were more likely than women to secure placements in the largest firms, and received average starting salaries 8% higher than those paid to women.
But despite the market’s gloomy predictions that the economic climate would lead to a fall in the number of layers, the numbers of solicitors with practicing certificates actually rose in 2009 – with women now making up 45% of practicing solicitors.
However, there is still a massive gulf between the sexes when it comes to partnership prospects: the statistics reveal 21% of women are partners, compared with 49% of men in private practice. Clare McConnell, chairwoman of the Association of Women Solicitors, told the Law Society Gazette that the disparity does a ‘disservice to women solicitors and their individual talents and to the profession as a whole’.
-
