Recommendations to improve gender equality at the Bar

Its report ‘New practitioner earnings differentials at the self-employed Bar’, published this week, shows the gap opens up in the first few years of practice and cannot be explained by caring responsibilities, choice of practice area, or amount of legally aided work undertaken by barristers.

Women’s median earnings were 13% behind men’s, ranging from 5% in the first year to 19% in the second. The report recommends collecting earnings data, holding regular practice reviews, discussing issues of fair allocation of work, tolerance of risk and the impact of underbilling and unpaid work, and the gendered nature of identifying ‘stars at the Bar’ who attract more lucrative work.

Sam Townend KC, Bar Council chair, said the earnings gap is ‘a structural problem that presents a collective challenge for the Bar’.