Lack of black solicitors in UK law firms

Only 19 per cent of major law firms in the UK have black partners, according to the Black Solicitors Network's (BSN) diversity league table for 2007.

The Lawyer reports that the BSN's findings show that only 3.7 per cent of partners in legal firms come from ethnic minorities, although this is a marginal increase from last year when just three per cent of partners came from ethnic minorities.

When moving down in rank, the figures increase a little, with ethnic minorities making up 9.8 per cent of associates and 10.7 per cent of trainees.

Based on a study of the top 100 law firms in the UK, overall Holman Fenwick & Willan is shown to have the fewest ethnic minority employees, while Wedlake Bell has the most, followed by Bristows, Freeth Cartwright and Weightmans.

In terms of senior ethnic minority employees, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton was shown to have the most ethnic minority partners. Meanwhile, Shearman & Sterling had the most associates from ethnic minorities and Bristows had the most people from ethnic minorities as trainees.

While it is illegal to discriminate against people from ethnic minorities in the workplace in Britain, in Northern Ireland, firms are encouraged to recruit people from ethnic minorities as a priority.

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