The Law Society has published its latest Annual Statistics Report revealing a slight growth in the number of practising solicitors, mainly due to more hires in larger firms with an increase in practising solicitors of 2.1 per cent compared to 2013 with the number now standing at 130,382.

Other findings include:

• Representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic groups among practising solicitors stood at 15 per cent, more than doubling since 2000.
• A further closing of the gender gap with 51.8 per cent of practising solicitors being men and 48.2 per cent women.
• A decline in the number of private practice firms for the fourth consecutive year.
• A six per cent drop in the number of training contracts registered in the 12 months to 31 July 2014, compared with the previous year.

Copies of the report can be obtained by going to www.lawsociety.org.uk/policy-campaigns/research-trends/annual-statistical-reports/ whilst an executive summary can be found at www.lawsociety.org.uk/policy-campaigns/research-trends/annual-statistical-report/documents/annual-statistical-report-2014—executive-summary-(pdf-203kb)/