ICAM: 71% of lawyers experienced mistreatment

He is around 48 years old and practices civil law in a small office, where he earns around €45,000 a year as a self-employed lawyer; he acknowledges difficulties in balancing his work and personal life and reports having experienced some kind of mistreatment, discourtesy or restriction in the exercise of his profession. This is, broadly speaking, the portrait of the approximately 75,000 lawyers in Madrid, according to the “I Comprehensive Study on the situation of the Madrid legal profession”, carried out by the Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) together with GAD3, a prominent analysis company.

“This initiative was prompted by the need to obtain a clear and up-to-date view of how our lawyers face the challenges and opportunities in their professional practice. From self-employed lawyers and sole practitioners working in individual firms to those employed in larger law firms or in the public sector, each one plays a vital role in the legal sector”, explains Eugenio Ribón, Dean of ICAM.
Based on an in-depth analysis of the socio-occupational profile, working conditions, income levels, the challenges of work-life balance and the use of technology by the more than 2,700 participating members, the report reveals significant trends in the profession.

The first of these is that, within the heterogeneity that characterises the legal profession, there is a common denominator: the majority of ICAM members practise law in an office (65%), while 2 out of 10 (19%) are in-house lawyers, 8% work in the civil service and 4% are involved in teaching or research. Among practising lawyers, the percentage of professionals working in a law firm rises to 84%. By size, 73% work in small law firms (38%) or as sole practitioners (35%), compared with 17% in large (9%) or medium-sized law firms (8%).

In terms of employment status, more than half of Madrid’s lawyers (52%) are self-employed. Among practising lawyers, this figure rises to 68%, while among non-practising lawyers the trend is reversed: seven out of ten work as salaried employees (72%). Some 5% define themselves as ‘false self-employed’, a figure that rises to 9% in the case of young practising lawyers.

Salary level

Madrid lawyers, on average, earn 45,700 euros gross per year, with 52% earning more than 40,000 euros per year. In-house lawyers (53,000 euros gross per year) and non-practising lawyers (50,600 euros/year) earn the most on average, followed by those working in a public body (46,000 euros gross per year) and, in third position, those working in law firms (43,600 euros/year). At the bottom of the income ranking are those who describe themselves as ‘false self-employed’ with an average gross annual income of 36,295 euros.
The highest incomes are concentrated in affluent areas in the centre and north of the capital.

Specialisations

With regard to the legal fields in which practising members practice law, it should be noted that 74% of lawyers practice in more than one field, with a predominance of civil law, to which the highest percentage of members are dedicated (70%), followed by procedural law (41%), labour law (39%), criminal law (34%), family law (34%), commercial law (33%) and administrative law (32%). By gender, women lawyers tend to have a strong presence in areas such as family and labour law, while men tend to be more concentrated in procedural law.

Young lawyers

Women predominate among members under the age of 35, accounting for 56% of those interviewed. As a general rule, young lawyers are practising lawyers (54%) and in seven out of ten cases they work in a law firm (71%). In the case of women, there is a higher proportion of practising lawyers (56%) and those working as in-house lawyers (24%).

Contrary to the average, lawyers under 35 tend to be more inclined towards salaried employment (72%), suggesting a change in employment trends.
Although the average salary for young lawyers is around €35,000 gross per year, there is a notable difference depending on where they practice: those working as in-house lawyers or in large law firms earn almost 40% more, reaching an average of €43,300. At the other side of the spectrum stand young professionals practising in medium-sized or small law firms, with an average income of 27,900 euros/year, or as sole practitioners, with 23,900 euros gross per year.

Infringement of the right of defence
71% of the lawyers surveyed stated that they had experienced some kind of mistreatment, discourtesy or restriction in the exercise of the right of defence, the most frequent being delays in the processing of proceedings, unjustified delays in the holding of legal proceedings and inconsiderate verbal treatment. By subject area, constitutional, criminal and procedural law are the most affected.
In addition, it is noted that women outperform the average in terms of cases of this type, and while men in particular report undue limitation of oral reports in court, women are more likely to report having experienced verbal or written inconsiderate treatment.

Digitalisation of the profession
The most widespread digital tools are e-mail, office automation tools (Word, Excel, etc.) and electronic signatures. On the other hand, data analysis software and artificial intelligence are the least widely used tools among ICAM lawyers.
Generally speaking, large law firms show higher levels of digitisation. This difference is particularly marked in areas such as legal databases, online collaboration tools, management software and the use of social networks.

Work-life balance
52% of the surveyed people state that they have some kind of difficulty when it comes to work-life balance. This percentage rises to 58% in the case of women and practising professionals. On the other hand, lawyers who go to court have more problems with conciliation than those who do not. With regard to the size of the law firm, it is in large firms that the greatest difficulties in work-life balance are encountered.
With regard to the causes, the most frequently cited are the excessive workload, the length of the working day and the difficulty in setting limits and disconnecting.

Dignity, work-life balance and support for young people
In the opinion of Dean Eugenio Ribón, the study has several significant consequences and implications for the legal profession in Madrid. Firstly, “the high percentage of lawyers who report having experienced mistreatment or restrictions in the exercise of their profession highlights an urgent need for protection and support mechanisms, as well as greater awareness and reforms in the system,” he warns.
Ribón also stresses the need to promote work-life balance, to support young lawyers and to emphasise technological training to promote digitalisation.
With regard to the work structure, “given that many lawyers work in small offices or as freelancers, the need to offer support from the Bar Association in areas such as business management and regulatory compliance is evident. This is something we are already doing, and in a reinforced way for the Legal Aid Service, with a free training offer that has multiplied, but which, in addition, as a result of these data, we will intensify”.

For his part, the president of GAD3, Narciso Michavila, points out that “several employment trends emerge from the research: an increase in female presence, growing salarisation and concentration of law firms, and a reduction in salaries. If the trend continues, and there is no reason to suspect that it will not, the lawyers of the future will have greater job security but less money than their elders.