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Statistics for the attorneys’ profession

About the attorneys’ profession

There are currently some 29 981 practising attorneys and 5 483 candidate attorneys in South Africa. Attorneys are officers of the court and are registered on the roll of attorneys at the Legal Practice Council.

An overview of the attorneys’ profession
(As at January 2022)
Attorneys
Total attorneys29 981
White attorneys15 77953%
Black attorneys (includes African, coloured and Indian)14 20247%
White male attorneys9 12931%
Black male attorneys8 13827%
White female attorneys6 65022%
Black female attorneys6 06420%
Total female attorneys12 71442%
Attorneys firms
Total firms15 595
Sole practitioners13 149
2 to 9 attorneys2 351
10 to 19 attorneys69
20 to 49 attorneys14
More than 50 attorneys12

Demographics National Candidate Attorneys

Age:

Age Group Totals
< 21 1
21 – 24 901
25 – 34 4460
35 – 44 541
45 – 54 226
55 – 64 72
65 – 74 7
> 75 237
6445

Gender:

Age Group Totals Male Female
< 21 1 1 0
21 – 24 901 316 585
25 – 34 4460 1806 2654
35 – 44 541 243 298
45 – 54 226 115 111
55 – 64 72 49 23
65 – 74 7 5 2
> 75 237 67 170
  6445 2602 3843

Race:

Age Group Totals Black Coloured Indian White Other
< 21 1 1 0 0 0 0
21 – 24 901 433 77 79 310 2
25 – 34 4460 2797 296 313 1010 44
35 – 44 541 410 25 23 78 5
45 – 54 226 168 11 10 31 6
55 – 64 72 50 4 2 14 2
65 – 74 7 5 0 0 2 0
> 75 237 110 30 38 59 0
  6445 3974 443 465 1504 59

Gender And Race:

Age Group Totals Black Male Black Female Coloured Male Coloured Female Indian Male Indian Female White Male White Female Other Male Other Female
< 21 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 – 24 901 163 270 22 55 25 54 106 204 0 2
25 – 34 4460 1172 1625 102 194 98 215 420 590 14 30
35 – 44 541 195 215 13 12 7 16 26 52 2 3
45 – 54 226 95 73 5 6 6 4 6 25 3 3
55 – 64 72 38 12 2 2 2 0 5 9 2 0
65 – 74 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
> 75 237 36 74 8 22 10 28 13 46 0 0
  6445 1705 2269 152 291 148 317 576 928 21 38

View the LSSA LEAD statistics on the profession, July 2018