241 Pizza

The disillusionment comes at a time when salaries and profits at law firms are at record levels.

New trainees at the top City firms earn a minimum of £35,000 rising to over £80,000 after three years. Those who are awarded with partnership can expect to earn £1 million or more in strong years.

The survey reveals that almost 40 per cent of lawyers, if they could have followed their dreams, would have become either writers or journalists.

But the most popular chosen exit for those who have already gone down the legal route is a non-law, private sector job.

Become less straight, white and male — or go out of business

Efforts to promote diversity in the legal profession are motivated by more than just good public relations

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The numbers:

2,631 lawyers surveyed from June 4 - June 26

Among the factors cited for being unable to leave the profession were:

(some ticked more than one)

The possible drop in salary - 70 per cent
My family’s needs - 37 per cent
I feel I am too old to change career - 27 per cent
The possible drop in status - 14 per cent
The stress of learning new skills - 10 per cent
The cost of re-training for something - 26 per cent
I don’t have the right qualifications for what I really want to do - 23 per cent
Apathy - 17 per cent
The area I want to enter is too competitive - 8 per cent

Those wanting to leave favoured:

City (investment bank, private equity etc) - 9 per cent
Private sector firm (e.g. limited companies and PLCs) - 24 per cent
Nationalised industry or public corporation (e.g. post office, BBC) - 2 per cent
Other public sector employer (e.g. NHS, police, armed forces) - 5 per cent
Charity/ voluntary sector (e.g. charitable companies, churches) - 6 per cent
Education/ teaching - 9 per cent
Other - 27 per cent

More than half confessed that they had originally wanted to be something other than a lawyer.

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