Law360 uses Edwards Gibson data to examine the gender imbalance in law firm partnerships

Edwards Gibson’s market-leading data and insights have been cited in the recent Law360 UK article, ‘Salaried Partnership A New Glass Ceiling For Women In Law’, by Adele Redmond examining the continuing challenges facing women seeking to progress from salaried to equity partnership in the legal profession.

The article explores how women have achieved near parity at the salaried and partial equity partner level, while remaining significantly underrepresented within equity partnerships. Drawing on data from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the piece highlights that women hold 49% of salaried and partial equity partner positions but only 35% of full equity partnerships.

The feature also draws on Edwards Gibson research examining partner hiring trends since 2019. The data shows that women account for approximately 40% of vertical partner hires, where a lawyer is elevated to partnership on joining a new firm, but only 26% of lateral partner hires involving moves between firms.

That disparity matters. Although women remain significantly underrepresented in the overall partner transfer market, their considerably stronger representation among lawyers hired directly into partnership appears to show that law firms are at least trying to address the gender imbalance at entry level. As Edwards Gibson notes in the article, vertical hires also tend to be more skill-set based and less dependent on an established portable business case, an assessment process which can otherwise disadvantage women.

The article nevertheless demonstrates how much further there is to go. Edwards Gibson’s figures show that women have accounted for around 30% of partner hires overall since 2019, while the highest-earning practice areas remain particularly male-dominated. Women represented only 20% of hires in both corporate and finance, compared with figures much closer to parity in employment and pensions, practice areas that tend to be less highly remunerated and are often regarded as more compatible with work-life balance and caring responsibilities.

The article further examines the structural, cultural and commercial factors that continue to affect women's progression to equity partnership, including the impact of maternity leave, childcare responsibilities, business development expectations and evolving partner remuneration models. While the data points to genuine progress, with women accounting for a significantly higher proportion of new-to-partnership hires, it also presents a more nuanced picture. The gains achieved through vertical hires have yet to translate fully into greater representation among lateral, equity and rainmaking partners, particularly in the most lucrative practice areas.