It has become increasingly hard to become a partner at law firms across the country, especially the largest practices, figures released this week indicate - while there is a growing disparity between the number of legal practice course (LPC) students and available training contracts.

The Law Society's annual statistical report, for the year to 31 July 2005, also paints a picture of a profession increasingly open to women and entrants from ethnic minorities.


Though the number of solicitors on the roll and with practising certificates grew by more than 4% (to 126,142 and 100,938 respectively), the number of partners has fallen by the same degree. But there has been a 15% increase in associate solicitors.


The number of associates per partner has more than doubled in four years, while the number of assistants and consultants has also gone up. In all, there were 2.5 qualified staff per partner in private practice last year, up from 2:1 in 2001; at the largest firms, however, it jumped by 50%, from 3.2:1 to 4.8:1.


Tony Williams, the former managing partner of Clifford Chance who is now a law firm consultant at Jomati, said the figures showed that an increasing number of young lawyers are now joining the larger practices, and that firms are looking more closely at their leverage.


Leading partnership expert Ronnie Fox said practices are nursing their profitability more carefully - with associate status used as a 'staging post'. He said: 'You shouldn't make up a partner unless he or she has enough work to keep themselves and two assistants busy.'


Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva called on firms to find other, complementary ways to reward and retain their best talent, including 'examining the gender pay gap that is huge at some levels of the profession'.


She added: 'At the same time, the number of solicitors working in-house is growing and liberalisation of the legal services market following the recommendations of Sir David Clementi could open up entirely new forms of practice.'


The number of places on the LPC continued to grow apace, up 19% in just two years to 11,341 last year. Although not all places are filled, the number of students was up 9% last year to 8,649. Some 6,558 passed, with a further 777 referred. However, the number of training contracts has remained static for three years at around the 5,700 mark.


The growing disparity will raise fears of a repeat of the mid-1990s, where a large mismatch in numbers led to debt-laden students having to give up hopes of a legal career. There was even a brief bid by the Law Society to freeze the number of LPC places.


Julie Swan, head of education and training at the Law Society, said: 'The Society cannot and would not wish to control numbers seeking to enter the profession. However, we are concerned that people take informed decisions about their career options. We have made great efforts to ensure individuals understand both the opportunities that are available to those who qualify and the competitive nature of the training and job market. There are no guarantees.'


This is made clear in a briefing note the Society sends to all LPC admission applicants, who are told to research and reassess their long-term chances of securing a training contract before making a final commitment to the course.


Genevieve Monclin, chairwoman of the Trainee Solicitors Group, said law schools too 'ought to give [students] a much clearer picture of how tough it is'. Melissa Hardee, chairwoman of the new Association of LPC Providers, said law schools already do this, but warnings are not always sufficient. '[And] who are we to say before they even start the course that they are not going to succeed?' she asked.


Generally, the numbers of women and ethnic minority solicitors in the profession continued to rise, up to 41.6% and 8.7% respectively of all practising solicitors. Almost 62% of trainees were women last year, and 18.4% were from ethnic minorities.


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