Girl power rules at LG as females dominate trainee intake

The firm welcomed a new cohort of trainees, which consisted of 11 females and one solitary male, in September.

But LG’s new graduate recruitment partner Geoffrey Gouriet said that although the male to female split was not pre-planned, he thinks it demonstrates the firm’s dedication to recruiting the best talent regardless of a candidate’s social and ethnic background or gender.

“My sense is that women are well represented at every level in the firm - there’s no better example of this than the fact that our senior partner is a woman,” he said.

Elsewhere, Baker & McKenzie has revealed that the male to female split of its next intake is 13 to seven respectively while Addleshaw Goddard confirmed that its current cohort contains more female trainees but its 2011 intake is more male dominated than usual.

Addleshaw’s graduate recruitment manager Brett Galloway said: “In recent years we’ve certainly seen more females than males apply and I think that is reflected in the number of women studying law coming through the pipeline.”

CMS Cameron McKenna’s graduate recruitment officer Victoria Wisson said LG should be concerned how such a big divide could affect that intake in the future.

She said: “It’s inevitable that some women will want to go off and have children and the firm may face a gap in talent in years to come. But with more women coming into the profession many firms will have to review how they can be more flexible to accommodate women who want to have a career as well as maintain a family life.”

Figures show that in 2008, 11,558 students enrolled with the Law Society and of these students 63.7 per cent were women. There were also 6,303 new traineeships registered in 2008 and of the new trainees registered, 63.4 per cent were women.