According to the latest stats released by the Law Society it is becoming increasingly difficult to attain partnership, especially at the largest law firms. The number of solicitors on the roll increased by 4%, but the number of partners has fallen by the same degree. But there has been a 15% increase in associate solicitors.
The number of associates per partner has more than doubled in four years. There were 2.5 qualified staff per partner in private practice last year, up from 2:1 in 2001. However in the largest firms it jumped by 50%, from 3.2:1 to 4.8:1.
Ruthie perceives a nervousness within the profession about future squeezes on profitability, and also, perhaps cynically a reluctance to promote women to partnership in some firms. However if firms want to retain good staff then other means must be found to reward their efforts, otherwise those with ability may find greater reward in other businesses and professions.
Slightly off the point but an example I suppose of one response to enormous pressure on junior associates, I just ran across (while looking for something entirely different), the rather sad case of Miss Williams…
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2006/1022.html
Ouch! Sadly I suspect that this case was unusual merely because she was caught. The pressure on Miss Wilson looked pretty intolerable and frankly her partner seems to be a bt of a shit, but it is not entirely untypical.