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Millennials soon to make up half of NZ’s practising lawyers
New data from the New Zealand Law Society shows that legal professionals from the Millennial generation will be a majority demographic among the nation’s practitioners.
Jerome Doraisamy
As at 1 February 2019, members of the Millennial generation contributes 44 per cent of all New Zealand-based practising lawyers, according to the NZ Law Society.
For the purposes of segmenting the generations, the Law Society’s data analysis deemed those born before 1946 as the Silent Generation, those born between 1946 and 1964 as Baby Boomers, those born between 1965 and 1980 as Generation X, and those born between 1981 and 1995 as Millennials.
“While generational labels are often discredited and have rather vague boundaries, they are still commonly used to make generalised observations,” the Law Society said.
The data indicates that the Silent Generation only makes up one per cent of the nation’s legal profession at present, while Baby Boomers make up just under one in five (19 per cent) and Gen X amounts for 36 per cent of the profession.
However, despite making up just 36 per cent of the profession, Gen X accounts for 52 per cent of partners and directors of legal institutions. Boomers make up 33 per cent of partners and directors, while Millennials are at just 14 per cent.
Elsewhere, the society noted that another generation is just starting to emerge in the legal profession: the Gen Z (or iGen or Centennials) demographic, who were born from 1996 onwards. So far, the Society said, they make up just 0.1 per cent of lawyers, “but they’re on their way”.
“Millennials easily dominate the lawyers working in law firms who are not partners or directors. However, Generation X (also known sometimes as the ‘latchkey kids’) dominates when it comes to partners and directors”.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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