Inequality in the workplace is unacceptable, but change cannot happen overnight, says Andrew Holroyd


The publication of our salary survey led to many headlines, not least in the Gazette, about the pay gap between black and ethnic minority solicitors, and women solicitors and their white male counterparts. While these gaps may have closed over the years, the fact is that, as long as the gaps persist, so too does the problem.



The Law Society can neither change this overnight nor do it on its own. We can, however, help. Coincidentally, last week saw the completion of the first draft of our diversity charter, the development of which I have mentioned in previous podiums. By looking beyond the legal profession we have drawn on the expertise of a number of FTSE companies with the very best diversity records, such as BT. The charter should be launched before the end of the year and practices that sign up will have to provide statistics on everything from race and gender to sexuality and age.



Last week also saw the Law Society and Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) join forces to focus on the specific pay inequality between men and women. Women are, of course, a unique ‘minority’ insofar as they are now a numerical majority as entrants to the profession, but glass ceilings still need to be shattered. I am delighted that our joint two-year campaign was launched by someone who has done so much to advance opportunities for women in the profession – my immediate predecessor as President of the Law Society, Fiona Woolf, at the inaugural AWS lecture in her name. There is no doubt we need to be more flexible employers, providing a better work-life balance for men and women alike, but this will need a culture change which the Law Society is determined to encourage.



Managing aspirations and expectations is never easy, but when it comes to something as serious as inequality – whether it be race, gender or sexuality – we must be impatient for change, yet also realistic that the change we all want to see will not happen overnight. ‘Impatient realism’ may be a contradiction in terms, but it is one philosophy this pale, stale male subscribes to 100%.





One million lawyers

Last week saw a special visit to the Law Society by leaders of the Indian profession in the form of a delegation from the Bar Council of India. With a profession very close to a million-strong and an economy undergoing such rapid transformation, India is undoubtedly one of the most important jurisdictions in the world. Despite the thousands of miles that separate us, there are few professions we have more in common with, not least our shared values, ethics and legal heritage.



This month also saw a visit by a group of lawyers from the only nation in the world more populous, China. The leaders of the All Chinese Lawyers Association head a very different profession, but with such rapid globalisation of legal services I am sure we will continue to deepen and strengthen our relations with them. Whether our guests be from Mumbai or Beijing, New York or Paris, solicitors in England and Wales can proudly boast a unique combination: the professionalism and global expertise of so many of our leading firms, and a history that can traced all the way back to Runnymede.





Converging and diverging jurisdictions

While the fulcrum of the world economy is shifting towards two of the so-called BRIC nations, Europe continues to be a critical market for many of our practices and a destination for many UK solicitors to work. Moreover, from the Akzo Nobel judgment to the equally controversial Third Money Laundering Directive, it is also the source of so many decisions and legislation affecting our profession, so it is vital that the Law Society has the strongest possible presence.



Over the last decade the Law Society’s influence in Europe has increased massively. Our new, larger office in Brussels, which opened this week, will enable us to work closer with our partners abroad and maximise our influence in the corridors of power to shape legislation affecting the profession.



At the same time as our legal system gradually converges with Europe, in Wales there is rapid divergence as its Assembly makes new laws giving the principality’s legal system a unique identity. This month sees the Law Society Council convene in Cardiff for the first time in seven years. It will see for itself how our Wales office is influencing law making as well as advising solicitors doing business in Wales about how the law differs from that in England. Life may be getting more complex and complicated, but your professional body is well ahead of the game.