LawDeb's Gender Pay Gap 2025

Publishing our gender pay gap is key to holding ourselves accountable in our
effort to create a fair, inclusive and diverse workforce. We welcome the
opportunity to publish this information as we strive for transparency around a
topic so core to our values of Better Together and Make Change Happen.

Over the past seven years we have taken bold and purposeful steps to drive our 136 year-old culture forward to one which is fit for now and the future. We have invested heavily in our current people, and consciously broadened our talent search to welcome colleagues who can further enrich our workplace and client experience. While this enterprise wide commitment will continue, we are delighted with the change that we have already made happen.

It is with this backdrop that we share our 2024/25 gender pay gap data. This year has seen some changes in our workforce composition, particularly in our upper quartile where we experienced impactful natural turnover and transition. The departure of several senior female colleagues, combined with female replacements entering at points where bonus would not be at the same level in the starting year, has impacted our overall pay gap statistics in the short term. We expect this to rebalance next year when new joiners are eligible for performance bonuses.

Despite these workforce changes, we are pleased to report several positive achievements. We have maintained perfect gender balance in our upper quartile at 50% female representation, and our upper middle quartile shows 51% female representation, demonstrating our continued success in achieving and sustaining gender parity at senior levels. The percentage of women and men receiving bonuses remains extremely well balanced at 79% and 80% respectively.

When comparing against industry comparators*, our position remains strong. Our hourly pay gaps are approximately 9% better than the Big Four average across both mean and median measures. Specifically, while the Big Four average a mean hourly pay gap of 21%, ours stands at 12%, and where their median sits at 15%, ours is 14%. This places us significantly ahead of
industry benchmarks and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to fair pay practices.

We recognise that this year's figures show an increase from 2024, with our mean hourly pay gap rising by 3.5 percentage points and our median by 3.4 percentage points. Our bonus gaps have also increased. However, it is important to view these changes in the context of natural workforce evolution and the composition changes in our senior cohort. We remain committed to our strategic goals of gender equality and will continue to monitor and address
pay equity as part of our ongoing commitment to creating a fair and inclusive workplace.

Our commitment moving forward

We approach our 2024/25 results with transparency and accountability. While this year’s figures show increases in our pay gaps, primarily driven by workforce composition changes in our upper quartile, we take pride in maintaining 50% female representation at our most senior levels and continuing to significantly outperform industry benchmarks.

The natural evolution of our workforce with senior colleagues moving to new opportunities and talented individuals joining at different career stages, has impacted our statistics this year. However, our commitment to gender equality remains unwavering. We continue to invest in fair and transparent compensation practices, comprehensive unconscious bias training, and creating clear pathways for progression regardless of gender.

Our journey towards true pay equity is ongoing, and we understand that progress is not always linear. What remains constant is our dedication to our values of Better Together and Make Change Happen, and our accountability to our colleagues. We will continue to monitor, measure, and take meaningful action to ensure LawDeb remains a place where all colleagues can thrive and rewarded fairly for their contributions.

View our summary document here. 

*Compared to latest reported figures for EY, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC