The Association of Women Solicitors’ submission to Lord Hunt’s regulation review tells an all-too-familiar story. It describes how women remain ‘underrepresented at senior levels despite making up the majority of new entrants into the profession and.... underrepresented in certain practice areas, particularly those which are rewarded more highly’.

The paper highlights problems of retention, access to opportunities and pay inequality as examples of how the profession has failed. It is a depressing read, and nearly 40 years on from the Equal Pay Act points up the slow rate of progress.

It is no surprise, then, that the AWS wants prescriptive measures to eliminate equality and discrimination, such as mandatory pay audits. Failure by firms to implement such measures should amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct, it argues.

Unfortunately, diversity issues can drop down the agenda of business leaders when recession bites. But this is no proper excuse for inaction - female solicitors have been fighting discrimination for decades. It may well be time for the SRA to introduce the ‘clear regulatory provisions’ that the AWS demands – or it may be another 40 years before this issue is resolved once and for all.