Bar Council/COMBAR Report on Gross earnings of members of The Commercial Bar Association by sex

COMBAR is committed to ensuring that all members have fair and equal opportunities to fulfil their potential and to progress.  It aims to support and encourage chambers in achieving a standard of excellence in equality of opportunity that reflects the high professional standing of the Commercial Bar.

To this end, COMBAR has engaged the Bar Council to report on the gross earnings of members of COMBAR by sex.  The intention was to analyse and report on the relative earnings of male and female barristers practising at the Commercial Bar on an anonymised and aggregated basis, adopting the same approach as used in the Bar Council’s annual gross earnings reports (by sex and practice area), but this time targeted at COMBAR members who practise from COMBAR member sets.  COMBAR has worked with the Bar Council to support its production of this report.  The report is available here.

The key findings of the Bar Council’s report, which should be read in the context of the report as a whole, are set out below.  COMBAR recommends that all chambers follow the Bar Council’s guidance for monitoring earnings, and implement effective procedures to identify any significant earnings discrepancies within chambers, consider the possible causes for earnings discrepancies, and identify what remedial action may be appropriate.  Chambers are also encouraged to follow COMBAR’s Best Practice Guidance for Chambers, which is available here.

Key Findings

  1. In the calendar years 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and across all experience levels, female COMBAR members on average earn less than their male colleagues.
  2. The difference in earnings is usually the smallest at the start (0-3 PQE) of a barrister’s career.  Nevertheless, in 2024 female COMBAR members of 0-3 PQE earned on average 24% less than their male colleagues, as compared with 2021 when the earnings gap was 18%.
  3. As barristers progress in their careers (4-10 PQE onwards), male COMBAR members see a higher increase in their earnings than their female colleagues.  This trajectory is found across all calendar years.  Whilst the earnings gap has decreased in 2024 amongst COMBAR members of 4-10 PQE (as compared with 2021-2023), in 2024 female COMBAR members of 4-10 PQE still earned on average 15% less than their male colleagues.
  4. Except for 2021 where 21-25 PQE has the biggest gap in earnings (57%), 26+ PQE is the experience level with the biggest gap in earnings.  Notably, in 2024, female COMBAR members with 26+ PQE earned 59% less than their male colleagues.
  5. The second biggest gap in earnings can be found in 11-15 PQE across all calendar years. In 2021, female COMBAR members with 11-15 PQE earned 47% less than their male colleagues.  Whilst this earnings gap has decreased in 2024 (as compared with 2021-2023), in 2024 female COMBAR members of 11-15 PQE still earned on average 29% less than their male colleagues.
  6. If a COMBAR member reaches silk, both men and women see a significant increase in earnings but their gaps in earnings persist.  In 2024, female COMBAR members in silk earned on average 17% less than their male colleagues.
  7. The Bar Council’s data on the proportion of COMBAR members who practise from the top 10 commercial sets (measured by earnings) suggests that the earnings gap (in favour of men) is not a consequence of a higher proportion of men being at higher earning chambers.  For instance, in 2024, women and men were broadly equally likely to practise from a top 10 commercial set (59% of male KCs as compared with 58% of female KCs who are COMBAR members).

If you have any questions, please contact the E&D Committee through admin@combar.com