Women dominate recent admissions to legal profession

The average female lawyer has been in practice just under half the time of the average male lawyer, according to the New Zealand Law Society.

Statistics collected on lawyers practising certificates show that 52% of women holding a current practising certificate entered legal practice within the past nine years. Of men holding practising certificates, 52% entered practice within the past 20 years.

The major change in the makeup of the legal profession is shown by the fact that women now hold slightly under 44% of all practising certificates. This is up from 34% in 2000 and just 8% in 1980.

Over 61% of lawyers in practice who were admitted to the bar in the past five years are women, and they make up 59% of practising lawyers admitted in the past 10 years.

The “gender revolution” is most dramatically illustrated with lawyers who have been in practice for 40 years or more. Of these, 590 (99%) are men and just six are women. Only one woman have been in practice for 50 years or more, compared to 90 men.

© New Zealand Law Society 2008