Female solicitors" pay is still lagging behind WOMEN are still lagging behind men when it comes to pay in the Scottish legal profession, according to figures released today. The Law Society of Scotland's third "equality profile," which questioned more than 3,400 solicitors, found that women make up a larger chunk of the £15,000-£45,000 pay bracket, but that men dominate the £65,000-£150,000 salary band. Janet Hood, convener of the society's equality and diversity committee, said: "At the moment there are more women in the earlier stages of their careers than men. However, men in general continue to be paid more, although the gap now starts later, at around ten years in work, but continues throughout a solicitor's working life. While we can't make definitive statements about barriers to career progress, it's clear more women than men take career breaks and work amended hours, often because of childcare responsibilities, which is felt to have an impact. There also appear to be different gender approaches to career success, with reasons such as ... preferring to have a client-facing role being behind some female solicitors" reasons for not progressing to partnership level, which offers the highest financial rewards." The society said that more of its members are now being allowed to work from home by their firms. The survey also found that there has been an increase in the number of solicitors working part-time.