Our regulator, The Solicitors Regulation Authority, requires us to gather and publish a summary of certain data which they use to measure diversity in the legal profession and to do so in a way that does not identify any individual.
Due to the relatively small number of Partners and employees in the firm (47), the small number of respondents (38) and the even smaller sub-divisions of staff by category, we have elected not to publish information on religion, sexual orientation or gender re-assignment, although we have gathered this information and entered it on the SRA’s portal.
The survey was undertaken in May and early June 2019 on an anonymous basis. Responders were not compelled to respond but those who did say were free to respond as to they wished and had the option to enter “prefer not to say” when answering questions in any category.
38 Partners and staff responded to the survey, a response rate of around 81% which demonstrates that members of the firm substantially engaged with the process.
Gender
9 men and 29 women replied to the survey
Education
6 of the respondents were educated outside of the UK, 6 went to fee paying schools in the UK and 25 respondents went to UK state schools of which 5 were selective. There was one other respondent who did not fit into any category.
Caring responsibilities
2 respondents said that they spent significant time each week caring for other adults or disabled children who were dependent on them, and 13 listed themselves as primary carers for children.
Background
For the first time, the survey sought information about the parents of the respondents, including the job grade of the highest earning parent when the respondent had been in their teens and educational attainment of parents.
The job descriptions of parents were listed by category and the respondents replied as follows:-
Clerical e.g. secretary 3
Mid/junior manager 2
Modern professional occupations e.g. teacher 4
Manual/service occupations e.g. van driver 4
Senior manager or administrator 3
Technical and craft occupations 5
Traditional professional occupations e.g. solicitor 8
Retired 1
The remainder of the respondents either preferred not to say or had marked the box “other” or “not applicable”.
The survey also asked about education attainment of parents.
Of the respondents, 7 reported that their parents had had no formal qualifications, 13 reported qualifications below degree level, and 12 reported at least one parent having had a degree level qualification or higher. The remaining respondents did not know, marked the section “not applicable” or “preferred not to say”.
The results in these two sections would make more interesting reading if they were broken down by role category, and whilst the information will be provided to the SRA, in order not to identify any of the respondents, we have not further broken down the responses for the purposes of our publication of data.
Age
Under 25 – 0
25-34 – 15
35-45 -8
45–54 – 7
55-64 – 4
65+ – 4
Ethnicity
The responses were as follows:-
African – 2
Indian – 5
White British/English/Welsh/Northern Irish/Scottish – 20
Caribbean – 1
Irish – 1
White & Asian – 1
White & Black Caribbean – 1
Any other white background – 3
Any other mixed/multiple ethnic background – 1
Any other Asian background – 1
Any other ethnic group – 1
Preferred not to say-1
Disability
One respondent categorised themselves as having a disability although 4 indicated that their ability to work was “limited a little” by a condition that had lasted more than 12 months.
Role categories of the respondents to the survey
The survey was completed based on the following roles:-
Partners in the firm – 6
Solicitors – 14
Legal Executives – 2
Notary – 1
Those in IT and managerial roles – 3
Those in a role directly supporting a lawyer – 9
There were 2 others in fee earning roles and 1 who preferred not to say.
This completes the information for publication by Grant Saw Solicitors LLP for 2019. Our intention is publish the information on our website for a period of one month.
R H Crudgington
Managing Partner and Partner responsible for diversity
This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.