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31 March 2020
Issue: 7881 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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Professional diversity: SRA update

The lawyer demographic is becoming more diverse overall but sharp discrepancies remain, the latest Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) figures show

About 21% of solicitors attended fee-paying schools, rising to 32% at larger law firms, compared to 7% of the general population.

A mere 3% of solicitors describe themselves as disabled, compared to 13% of the UK workforce.

Nearly half of all solicitors are women (49%), up one per cent since 2017, but that figure decreases to one third at partner level.

The number of Asian solicitors has risen from 9% to 15% in the past five years, but is lower (5%) at larger firms. By comparison, Asian employees make up 7% of the UK workforce as a whole.

Paul Philip, SRA chief executive, said: ‘There is clearly much more work to be done.’

Issue: 7881 / Categories: Legal News , Profession
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Firm welcomes partner with specialist expertise in family and art law

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Dual-qualified partner joins international private client team

NEWS
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

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