Kumar: Revisiting CLC equality code
Men are twice as likely as women to be in managerial roles at law firms overseen by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) despite women making up 74% of the licensed conveyancer community, the regulator has reported.
Its diversity monitoring survey found that women were nearly twice as likely as men to be employed by CLC firms as salaried lawyers.
While the number of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds at CLC-regulated firms was, at 14%, broadly in line with the wider population, they were more likely to be in administrative roles.
Similarly, staff who identified as white or white British (84%) were more likely to be in managerial roles than BAME colleagues.
In terms of social mobility, the CLC profession performed better than other parts of the legal sector, with 56% of CLC-licensed practitioners reporting that their parents had no formal qualifications or qualifications below degree level.
One in 10 of CLC-licensed practitioners reported having attended a private secondary school – higher than the 7% of the general population that do so, not significantly less than solicitors and barristers.
In January, the CLC launched a project to support its regulated community in developing more formal measures to promote diversity and inclusion, of which this research was the first part.
CLC chief executive Sheila Kumar said: “The diversity of the regulated profession as a whole is a strength and contributes to the success of the firms we regulate.
“Clearly, though, firms might need to review their recruitment and progression policies and practices to ensure that they are recruiting and promoting the best talent that is available to them.
“The governing council of the CLC will, in early June, be considering what steps the CLC can take to support that effort and whether any changes are needed to the equality code that sets out our expectations of the regulated community in this area.”
