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There's a seachange, but figures still don't stack up.
It's 95 years since women were allowed to practice as Solicitors and 93 since the first woman, Carrie Morrison, was admitted.
Fast forward to the last decade where 70% of the growth in practising solicitor numbers has been accounted for by women. And now, according to the latest Law Society annual statistical report female solicitors are set to outnumber men in the next 12 months in what the Law Gazette describes as a "a rapidly feminising solicitors’ profession".
Well it's not as though nobody saw it coming. For a number of years now women have made up two-thirds of practising solicitors under the age of 35 and the numbers in the pipelines are also continuing to climb.
The gender shift is however yet to have a significant impact at partner and business leader level. Somewhere along the line in the next 12 months male and female solicitor numbers will be neck and neck but there will still be twice as many male partners in private practice than women.
So what are the biggest obstacles women face and what if anything can be done to drive parity? Senior Recruitment Consultant Emily Oakes reveals what is women lawyers' biggest obstacle to partnership.
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