Are lawyers loners or aspiring solopreneurs?

Female legal practitioners numerically dominate the legal profession in Australia, according to the 2020 National Profile of Solicitors, recently released. Not surprising given the significantly higher number of females enrolling in Bachelor of Law degrees over the last decade.

What is surprising, however, is that the recent data reveals that the vast majority of legal practitioners work in sole practices. Across Australia, 82% of practitioners are either sole practitioners or work in law practices with one principal. That statistic is even more startling in Victoria where 87% of practitioners work in solo practices, closely followed by South Australia which has 86% of its lawyers operating as 'one-man bands'.