Creación de una herramienta como primer filtro

Work–life expectancy is a prerequisite for promotion to partnership position (Jarret- Kerr, 2014). Most law firms regardless of its size, expect to have associates who can spend over 6 to 7 years with the firm after entry (Rose, 2017). The average post- training age of male solicitors is 29.7 years and 29.4 for female solicitors at the entry point (Law Society Annual Statistics, 2016). The average ages were higher before the

82 Milburn Review of 2009 under Prime Minister Tony Blair whose inclusion initiatives fostered unhindered entry of minorities into universities (Cabinet office, 2009).

The literature points out that age has a distinct influence on both male and female solicitors in several ways (Law Society Mapping Report, 2017: Feenan, Hand & Hough, 2016; McGlynn, 2003; Tomlinson, Valizade, Muzio, Charlwood & Aulakh, 2018).

McGlynn (2000) argued that the ages of female solicitors who are in practice, affect their performance and career advancement efforts. McGlynn further explained that the age factor is also likely to affect how they meet the promotion criteria. She stated that female solicitors maternal need to get married and start families of their own is one of the main challenges they face when seeking to meet the promotion criteria. This according to McGlynn is because, the period of competition for partner opportunities coincide with parental responsibilities of female practitioners. Therefore, while they often take breaks to start families, their male counterparts are consolidating their career stakes and so become more suitable for promotion considerations. Thus, she viewed this as a biased criterion because female returnees lose out with little management support. Webley and Duff (2007) argued that it creates a setback for women and makes it difficult for them to remain. Most female returnees who are not supported opt out and cut the lifespan of their careers (Webley, Tomlinson, Muzio, Sommerlad, & Duff, 2016).

Brodherson, McGee and Pires dos Reis (2017) suggested that the challenges of meeting the longevity criterion in small, medium, or large law firms could be vitiated by appraising internal policies. They argued that the widely used "lock-step," "Eat-what- you-kill," "originating credit" and leveraged pyramid top-line models which focus on high volume of financial compensation does not encourage lawyers to stay longer. They emphasized that it discourages those who are unable to meet the criteria and prompt them to opt out. They also suggested that internal policies of good practice like the recognition and support of maternal leave by female solicitors, might solve the problem of longevity and reduce inequality at the top.

83 2.3.5 Client Origination and relations as criteria for promotion to partner level in large law firms

Client origination is a key to career advancement and the key to success for any size of a law firm (Wald, 2010). Within some legal contexts, it is called “rainmaking” (Hanlon,1999). A key criterion for advancement in large law firms is “rainmaking” which means the ability to bring in new business and clients (Hanlon,1999). The type of client base also depends on the profile, culture and type of work of the firm (Ashley & Empson, 2013; Wald, 2010).

Irrespective of the size of the firm, prospective partners are expected to establish and maintain strong professional client relationships while equally promoting client -care (Ashley & Empson, 2013; Jarrett-Kerr, 2011; Rose, 2017).

This criterion has a definite advantage for those who possess the requisite social and cultural capital. Client origination is a vital aspect of business development and so constitutes a "business case" for all three types of firms. Business-case as a strategy of inclusion also thrives on good client origination for high revenue yields (Law Society Diversity Report, 2010).

The Law Society’s reliance on the business-case strategy is predicated on the fact that employing women and those from the minority networks will encourage new business opportunities for their employers. However, this criterion may become challenging where a practitioner's social and identity capital determines the level of acceptance within the firm. The findings of Ashley and Empson (2013) indicated that the ability of a practitioner to have a vast client base also depends on acceptability within the firm. They argued that practitioners from lower social classes are likely to be prejudiced and not given the opportunity to meet and originate new businesses from prestigious clients. These prejudices, therefore, may place them at a disadvantage in meeting this criterium.

Additionally, the literature revealed that those from particular social classes are likely to attract prospective clients of similar backgrounds. For instance, practitioners from ‘Russell Universities' are likely to enjoy such opportunities due to their network of friends and acquaintances (Ashley & Empson, 2013). The ‘Russell Group’ in the UK is made up of seventeen British research universities as formed in

84 1994(https://russellgroup.ac.uk/). These include University of Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial College London, Queen Mary, Leeds, Liverpool, London School of Economics, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, University College London and Warwick).

Current and previous researches continue to show this trend among law firms in England. Previous research by Ward, Winterfeldt and Moran (2012) found that large law firms favoured public educated professionals more than professionals from minority backgrounds. Recent research by Tomlinson, Valizade, Muzio, Charlwood and Aulakh (2018) also found that social background and class impacts on the progress of solicitors, but the effect seems to affect women and those from BAME groups. Thus, this criteria can also amount to a source of marginalization not only to females but minority practitioners from BAME. It, therefore, seems incumbent on aspiring solicitors to use their skills to perform as to attract the attention of management.

2.3.5.1 Client origination and relations as criteria for promotion to partner level in Small and Medium law firms in England

In medium and small-sized firms, client origination remains equally very vital. Associates are remunerated based on their power of attracting colossal client- base and revenue generation. The impact of identity capital is also seen to feature in medium and small firms (Ashley & Empson, 2013; Schultz & Shaw, 2003; Wald, 2015; Ward, Winterfeldt and Moran, 2012).

Law firms with many ethnic minority solicitors have the propensity to attract clients from similar ethnic groups. Small and medium-sized high-street law firms exploit this aspect to their advantage (Schultz & Shaw, 2003). The face-to-face private client relationship within small and some medium law firms encourages greater networking opportunities between solicitors and their clients.

The recent research by Tomlinson, Valizade, Muzio, Charlwood and Aulakh,2018) studied different profiles of law firms and the impact of socio‐economic stratification on the progression of solicitors within the profession in the UK. They found that

85 practitioners continue to be stratified by gender, ethnicity and socio‐economic backgrounds and these influence the type of legal work undertaken by them (Tomlinson, Valizade, Muzio, Charlwood & Aulakh,2018). Thus, it could be argued as found in the literature that the success of this criterium is subjective and does not depend only on competence or commitment.

2.3.6 Case management: The ability to handle complex matters with minimal