The number of females practicing law in New Zealand has increased by 10 percentage points in the past 10 years, according to the New Zealand Law society. In 2000 the percentage of lawyers who were female was 34%, up from 8% 20 years prior, and in 2010 it was 44%. Over 61% of lawyers in practice who were admitted to the bar in the past five years are women, and they now make up 59% of practicing lawyers admitted in the past 10 years.

The “gender revolution” is most dramatically illustrated by statistics relating to lawyers who have been in practice for 40 years or more. Of these, 590 (99%) are men and just six are women. Only one woman had been in practice for 50 years or more, compared to 90 men. 52% of women holding a current practicing certificate entered legal practice within the past nine years

However, the movement in partner numbers does not reflect the overall increase in female lawyers. The NZ law firm with the highest percentage of women partners is South Island-based Anderson Lloyd, which has 13 women partners or 43% of the total 30 partners. In percentage terms, the next largest was Brookfields with 35% (6) and DLA Phillips Fox tied with Meredith Connell at 25%.

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