Is the UK legal industry good for women? Pay gap data 2026
Law is one of the few professions women enter in equal numbers to men. Just over half of all solicitors in England and Wales are women, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. So you might expect the pay data to look balanced. It does not. The law firm gender pay gap runs at roughly double the UK national average, and once partners are counted, it grows wider still.
If you are weighing up a career in law, or deciding between firms, the headline numbers matter. But so does what sits underneath them. Here is what the 2026 pay data shows, what it hides, and how to read a firm’s figures before you accept an offer.
What the law firm gender pay gap looks like in 2026
Every UK employer with 250 or more staff has to report gender pay gap figures each year, and the data is public on the gov.uk gender pay gap service. Across the wider economy, the national median gender pay gap sits at about 7% for full-time employees and around 13% across all employees, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The legal sector sits well above that. On Equal Pay Day 2025, analysis showed the legal industry’s median gender pay gap running at roughly double the national average. At many of the UK’s largest firms, male employees out-earn female colleagues by a typical median of around 26%. That is before you count the people at the very top.
The gap is not mainly about men and women being paid differently for the same job, which would be unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. It is about distribution: more men in senior, higher-paid roles, and more women clustered in junior and support positions. A high gap is a signal about who holds the well-paid seats, not proof of illegal pay discrimination.
Why the partner exclusion hides the real picture
Here is the detail most candidates miss. Partners and LLP members are not classed as “relevant employees” under the reporting rules, so firms do not have to include them in the headline figure. In a law firm, partners are often the highest earners by a wide margin, and they are disproportionately male.
That exclusion flatters the numbers. When firms have voluntarily recalculated their gender pay gap to include partner pay, the figure jumps sharply. The highest combined employee and partner median gap reported has reached around 48%. Roughly half of the UK’s highest-earning firms still decline to publish partner pay gap data at all, despite years of pressure from the profession and bodies like the Law Society to do so.
So when you look at a law firm’s official gender pay gap, ask a second question: does it include partners? If it does not, the real gap between the top and the rest is almost certainly larger than the published number.
Where women are, and are not, in law firms
The pipeline problem is well documented. Women make up just over half of solicitors, but only around 37% of partners across the sector. In the most lucrative, transactional practices the drop is steeper. In private equity, one analysis found that only about 15% of new London partners between 2020 and 2025 were women.
The pattern is familiar: strong female representation at entry level, a narrowing as you climb, and a small minority at the point where pay and power concentrate. This is why two firms can report similar entry salaries yet have very different gender pay gaps. The gap reflects seniority, not starting pay.
For a fuller walkthrough of what these figures mean, our guide on how to read a company’s gender pay gap figures breaks down the median, the mean and the bonus gap in plain English.
How to read a firm’s numbers before you apply
Treat a law firm’s gender pay gap report like a scorecard rather than a verdict. A few checks tell you far more than the headline percentage:
Look at the median first. The median gap is harder to skew than the mean and gives a truer sense of the typical woman’s experience at the firm.
Check whether partners are included. A firm that voluntarily publishes partner data is showing you it has nothing to hide, even when the number is uncomfortable.
Read the narrative, not just the number. Firms are encouraged to explain their figures and set out an action plan. A thoughtful, specific plan (targets for female partner promotion, sponsorship schemes, transparent pay bands) tells you more than a low number with no context.
Look at the bonus gap. In law, bonuses can be large and discretionary, which is exactly where bias tends to creep in. A wide bonus gap alongside a modest pay gap is worth a question at interview.
Track the trend. One year is a snapshot. Three years shows whether a firm is actually moving. Our complete UK guide to gender pay gap reporting explains where to find historic figures.
So, is the legal industry good for women?
The honest answer is: it depends heavily on the firm, and the averages hide a lot. Law offers women genuine opportunity, intellectual challenge and, at entry level, near-equal representation and pay. The problem sits higher up, where progression stalls and the reward gap widens.
The firms worth your time are the ones treating that as a problem to solve rather than a number to manage. They publish partner data. They set measurable targets. They back flexible working and returnships instead of quietly penalising the people who use them. If you want a sense of what strong practice looks like across sectors, our piece on inclusive employers and what good actually looks like is a useful benchmark.
The legal industry can be good for women. Whether a particular law firm is comes down to the detail beneath the headline gap, and now you know where to look.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average law firm gender pay gap in the UK?
At many large UK firms the median employee gender pay gap sits around 26%, roughly double the national average. Once partner pay is included, the figure can rise to around 48% at the widest, though most firms do not publish partner data.
Why do law firms exclude partners from their pay gap figures?
Partners and LLP members are not classed as employees under the gender pay gap reporting rules, so firms are not legally required to include them. Because partners are the highest earners and are mostly men, leaving them out makes the published gap look smaller.
Are women underrepresented in law?
Not at entry level. Just over half of UK solicitors are women (SRA data), but women hold only about 37% of partner roles, and far fewer in high-earning transactional practices like private equity.
How can I check a specific law firm’s gender pay gap?
Search the firm’s name on the gov.uk gender pay gap service, which publishes the figures every employer with 250 or more staff must report each year. Check the median, the bonus gap and whether the firm has voluntarily added partner data.
If you want to compare employers on how they treat women, not just what their brochures say, see how firms score for women on RecruitHer’s company gender scorecard.
This is educational information, not legal or career advice. Gender pay gap figures reflect workforce composition and can be affected by many factors. For guidance on pay and discrimination at work, contact ACAS (free and impartial) or check gov.uk.
Last reviewed: July 2026