Almost all women lawyers believe that flexible working practices are key to women winning senior roles in law firms, an international survey suggests.

Some 85% of respondents to the survey, commissioned by LexisNexis and the Law Society, said that the level of commitment required to reach the very top makes it difficult to have a family. Around 80% blame the demands of the job for creating a poor work-life balance.

The survey, to be published today, received 1,144 responses, 90% from women. While 64% of respondents said gender diversity is an important commercial issue for their firms, only 40% said they personally supported quotas for women.

Many practitioners blamed ‘bad management’ for not allowing them to benefit from the best female and male talent available. The research also showed that while more women than men were entering the profession, women were far more likely to leave practice before the age of 65.

Responses to the survey came from across the globe, with 85% from ‘Anglo-connected’ countries. The survey is to be launched at the Law Society’s ‘Women in Law’ conference on International Women’s Day, 8 March.

  • A toolkit giving practical tips on how the legal profession can track and foster social mobility was launched last week by a body representing 1.2m UK professionals. The 52-page guide from Professions for Good, a coalition of professional regulators, examines the case for social mobility and advises how regulators and firms can collect and process data.