Diversity of in-house solicitors 2026
21 October 2026
About this report
This report provides a snapshot of the diversity of in-house solicitors in England and Wales as of June 2026. Those working in-house make up around 23% of all practising solicitors and work in a range of settings, including private sector organisations, public bodies, charities and educational establishments.
Solicitors provided their data through their mySRA account, which they can review and update at any time. Providing diversity information is voluntary, and therefore response rates can vary across characteristics. We are working to increase these through social media and direct email contact, and we engage others to help us raise awareness of the importance of high-quality diversity data.
This report focuses solely on in-house solicitors and so does not cover all practising solicitors. For those working in private practice, we publish a diversity breakdown of individuals working in law firms. This is where law firms collect diversity data from all their staff and report it to us in an aggregated format. We publish that data broken down for 'all lawyers' and 'other staff'. The 'all lawyers' category includes solicitors but also other authorised lawyers working in law firms. This means the findings are not directly comparable due the difference in how the data is collected.
Key findings
The diversity profile of in-house solicitors shows a workforce in which:
- women made up the majority (62%)
- Black, Asian and minority ethnic made up 20% of in-house solicitors
- the largest proportion were aged 35–44 (36%) followed by those aged 45–54 (31%).
About the data
This data covers in-house solicitors holding a practising certificate and those working in government departments who are exempt from holding a practising certificate under section 88 of the Solicitor Act 1974. Together, these groups represent 92% (33,584) of the in-house population. The remaining 8% are non-practising solicitors and are not included in this analysis.
We have sufficient data for this population to report on sex (86%), ethnicity (72%) and age (100%). For this analysis we have excluded unknown responses but included those who selected 'prefer not to say'.
Where in-house solicitors work
We categorise in-house solicitors as either working in the private sector, public sector or other organisations. The table below shows that most were employed in the private sector (70%), followed by the public sector (26%) and then other organisations (5%).
| In-house sectors | Percentage (number) |
|---|---|
| Private sector | 70% (29,802) |
| Public sector | 26% (11,037) |
| Other organisations | 5% (1,951) |
Those in the public sector were mainly based in local government, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Government Legal Profession, with a smaller number who worked in courts, government bodies and government-funded services.
| Public sector | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Local government | 12% |
| Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) | 7% |
| Government Legal Profession | 5% |
| Court | 1% |
| Government body | 1% |
| Government funded service | 1% |
| Total | 26% |
A small proportion worked in other types of organisations, including regulatory bodies, educational establishments and advice services.
| Other organisations | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Regulatory body | 2% |
| Educational establishment | 2% |
| Advice services | 1% |
| Total | 5% |
Almost all in-house solicitors in the private sector worked in commerce and industry (69% of the 70%) with the remaining 1% working in accountancy practices and other corporate entities. As the private sector accounts for most of the population, its demographic profile is unlikely to differ substantially from that of the overall in-house solicitor population.
Many of the subcategories of the three main in-house sectors are very small. Therefore, we have not included all of them in the following tables which show the breakdown by sex, ethnicity and age. We only present breakdowns for sub-categories that account for more than 1% of the in-house population. These are:
- public sector – local government, CPS and Government Legal Profession
- other organisations – regulatory bodies and educational establishments.
As a result, the figures shown for these sub-categories in the tables will not add up to the total proportion of individuals in these sectors.
Breakdown of in-house solicitors by sex
The table below shows the breakdown of in-house solicitors by sex.
Overall, there was a higher proportion of women than men, making up 70% of solicitors in both the public and other sectors, compared with 58% in the private sector. This broadly reflects wider public sector labour market trends, where women accounted for around 64% of public sector employees in the UK, compared with 36% for men.
| Sector | Women | Men | Prefer not to say | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-house solicitors | 62% | 38% | 0% | 100% |
| Private sector | 58% | 41% | 0% | 100% |
| Public sector | 70% | 30% | 0% | 100% |
| Other sector | 70% | 30% | 0% | 100% |
Distribution of men and women across sectors
The distribution of men and women working in-house varied across sectors. Of all men working in-house, around three-quarters (76%) worked in the private sector. For women, two-thirds (66%) were in the private sector.
Of all women working in-house, 29% worked in the public sector. While for men, 21% worked in the public sector. This difference was particularly noticeable in local government, where 14% of women worked, compared with 8% of men.
| Sector | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Private sector | 66% | 76% |
| Public sector | 29% | 21% |
| - Local government | 14% | 8% |
| - CPS | 7% | 6% |
| - Government Legal Profession | 5% | 4% |
| Other sector | 5% | 4% |
| - Regulation body | 2% | 2% |
| - Educational establishment | 2% | 1% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
Breakdown of in-house solicitors by ethnicity
The table below shows the breakdown of in-house solicitors by ethnicity.
Overall, 79% were White, 20% were from a Black, Asian or minority ethnic background and 1% preferred not to say. The Office for National Statistics employment figures from 2025 showed that 18% of the workforce in England, Scotland and Wales were from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds, and 82% were White.
White solicitors made up 80% of the private sector, 77% of the public sector and 75% of other sectors. Black, Asian and minority ethnic solicitors made up 19% of the private sector, 22% of the public sector and 24% of other sectors.
| Sector | White | Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups | Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups | Prefer not to say | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | Asian | Mixed/ Multiple | Other | |||||
| In-house solicitors | 79% | 20% | 4% | 12% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| Private sector | 80% | 19% | 3% | 11% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| Public sector | 77% | 22% | 6% | 13% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 100% |
| Other sector | 75% | 24% | 5% | 15% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
Distribution of ethnic groups across sectors
The distribution of ethnic groups working in-house varied across sectors, although the private sector was the largest employer for all ethnic groups.
Of all solicitors from both Mixed/Multiple and Other ethnic backgrounds, 75% worked in the private sector, compared to 69% of White, 65% of Asian and 53% of Black in-house solicitors.
Of all Black in-house solicitors, 41% worked in the public sector. This is compared with 29% of Asian in-house solicitors, 26% of White in-house solicitors and 21% of those from Mixed/Multiple and Other ethnic backgrounds.
Of the Black in-house solicitors in the public sector, a majority (24% of the 41%) worked in local government, 9% in the CPS and 5% in the government legal profession. This compares with 12%, 7% and 4% respectively for White in-house solicitors in the public sector.
| Sector | White | Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups | Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | Asian | Mixed/ Multiple | Other | |||
| Private sector | 69% | 65% | 53% | 65% | 75% | 75% |
| Public sector | 26% | 29% | 41% | 29% | 21% | 21% |
| - Local government | 12% | 15% | 24% | 14% | 9% | 10% |
| - CPS | 7% | 7% | 9% | 7% | 4% | 3% |
| - Government Legal Profession | 4% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Other sector | 5% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 4% |
| - Regulatory body | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| - Educational establishment | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Breakdown of in-house solicitors by age
The table below shows the breakdown of in-house solicitors by age.
The largest proportion of in-house solicitors were aged 35–44 (36%) followed by those aged 45–54 (31%). Very few in-house solicitors were aged 65 and over (2%), and the proportion of in-house solicitors in the 16–24 age category was so low it rounded to 0%.
The age profile was broadly similar across sectors, although there were some differences between the private and public sectors. For example, the private sector had a higher proportion of solicitors aged 35–44 (39%) compared with 29% in the public sector. However, the public sector had a higher proportion aged 55–64 (22%) when compared with the private sector (12%).
| Sector | 16-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-house solicitors | 0% | 15% | 36% | 31% | 15% | 2% | 100% |
| Private sector | 0% | 16% | 39% | 31% | 12% | 2% | 100% |
| Public sector | 0% | 15% | 29% | 31% | 22% | 3% | 100% |
| Other sector | 0% | 12% | 34% | 33% | 18% | 3% | 100% |
Distribution of age categories across sectors
The table below shows the distribution of age categories across each sector.
Private sector representation was higher among younger solicitors aged 25–54 (ranging from 70% to 75%) than among older solicitors aged 55 and over (ranging from 56% to 57%). Public sector representation was higher among older solicitors aged 55 and over (ranging from 36% to 38%) than among younger solicitors aged 25–54 (ranging from 20%–25%).
The youngest age group (16–24) is not included in the table because there are so few in this category.
| Sector | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private sector | 72% | 75% | 70% | 56% | 57% |
| Public sector | 25% | 20% | 25% | 38% | 36% |
| - Local government | 11% | 8% | 11% | 18% | 21% |
| - CPS | 7% | 5% | 7% | 11% | 7% |
| - Government Legal Profession | 4% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Other sector | 3% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 7% |
| - Regulatory body | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| - Educational establishment | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |