New research highlighting multiple factors behind a continued lack of diversity within the England and Wales legal profession highlights the role regulators can play improving access, according to Legal Services Board (LSB) chair Alan Kershaw.

The head of the oversight legal regulator for England and Wales said it was “time to consider whether regulation can be more active in driving change” via “targeted action”.

Kershaw was commenting on the findings of research published today (22 August) by the LSB, which included an interactive map that visualised the structural, cultural and personal factors creating barriers to inclusion.

These range from assumptions about lawyers to devaluing alternative routes to qualification by limiting the careers of chartered legal executives and apprentices.

Other issues highlighted by the research include bullying, harassment, workplace culture, long hours, unfair work allocation, and recruitment processes that prioritise social skills over potential performance.

The LSB also published a study on the pre-judicial career diversity of lawyers on behalf of the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF), which explored the different stages along the career path of barristers, solicitors, and chartered legal executives before joining the judiciary, looking at where their judicial journeys fall short - or fall away. 

Female and ethnic minority lawyers are less likely to become King's Counsel (KCs), while current judges are primarily white men. Ethnic minority judges are overrepresented among applicants but less likely to be shortlisted and recommended than white lawyers.

Lawyers who attended private schools are far more likely than state school alumni to be recommended as judges. 

The findings are in line with the JDF’s 2024 report, which was published last month and found that white men account for 74% of Court of Appeal judges, 64% of High Court judges or equivalent and 60% of circuit judges, recorders and judge advocates.

The LSB's Kershaw said: “Despite ongoing efforts and progress in some areas, significant challenges and cultural practices still hinder entry to and progress through the legal profession. The problems are complex and deep-rooted, preventing a fully inclusive and healthy professional culture from thriving.” 

Law Society of England and Wales president Nick Emmerson welcomed the research, calling it “a useful addition” to existing evidence.  

On judicial diversity, Emmerson said: “We are disappointed to see that progress remains exceptionally slow.”

He added: “Despite solicitors making up half of the judicial applications last year, barristers are still more likely to be recommended for judicial posts.” He called for action to address the society’s concerns. 

KC appointments, noted Emmerson, continued to be dominated by white male barristers, with “very few” senior solicitors being appointed. Just one solicitor was appointed in the 2024 appointments round. 

Sam Mercer, head of equality and diversity at the Bar Council, said the LSB's research reflected “complex structural, cultural and personal factors” affecting diversity in law. 

Referencing the Bar’s past work on earnings, bullying and harassment, race, and recruitment, she stressed the complexity of barriers to entering the Bar and career progression within it, adding that the Bar aimed to both support individuals and remove such barriers.  

Mercer said the Bar Council would publish an update to its 2021 Race at the Bar report later this year having commissioned former Labour Party leader Dame Harriet Harman KC in June to review bullying and harassment at the Bar.