Women lose battle of sexes on competitive Lawyer of the Year list

More than 300 Australian solicitors have been named on a competitive Lawyer of the Year list, with considerably more men than women voted into the rankings. | FULL LIST

Global ratings agency Best Lawyers has revealed its exclusive list of Lawyers of the Year.

Women are losing the battle of the sexes on a peer-rated list of Australia’s hottest legal talent.

Fresh analysis of extra data released to The Australian by global ratings agency Best Lawyers has revealed that out of 322 identified on the 2025 Lawyer of the Year honoree list, about 21 per cent are female, with 72 named.

By comparison 72 per cent are men, with 250 men included on the Lawyer of the Year list.

The Best Lawyers list is compiled by peer review, with lawyers nominated by anyone (not themselves) and currently recognised lawyers on the list share feedback on the nominees. Local bar associations are contacted as a final step, before results are released.

The male-dominated list is in contrast to news last year that private legal practices in Australia are now seeing an equal number of men and women employed in the industry.

Research published by Ubris for the Law Society of NSW last year reported that since 2012, the number of female solicitors has increased by 86 per cent, compared with male solicitors up by 32 per cent.

A list of more than 4000 Australian lawyers was published in April, providing a broader snapshot of the “most recognised” industry professionals.

Litigators beat out insurance and commercial lawyers as the most popular legal practice among Australia’s best lawyers for a fifth year in a row on the larger list, with key statistics also showing an increase in the number of solicitors specialising in the area year-on-year.

The 2025 edition of the list reported out of the top five practice areas with the most recognised lawyers, litigation was in front by a significant margin with 831 lawyers.

It was followed by insurance law (502 lawyers), alternative dispute resolution (474), commercial law (398) and corporate law (398).

In 2024, litigators again dominated the list (783 lawyers) followed by insurance law (467), alternative dispute resolution (435), corporate law (379) and construction and infrastructure law.

The top five practice areas remained the same in 2023, 2022 and 2021. The only variation in legal practice areas was the addition of mergers and acquisitions law represented among the top five practice areas in 2020.

In Sydney — Australia’s top metropolitan area with the most recognised lawyers — Ashurst was named as the city’s top law firm, which had the most recognised lawyers working in construction and infrastructure law, international arbitration, labour and employment law and insolvency.

Also in Sydney, Herbert Smith Freehills had the most recognised lawyers working in energy law, funds management, oil and gas law, and mergers and acquisitions among others.

And Gilbert and Tobin had the most recognised lawyers in competition, entertainment, equity capital markets and information technology law.

Melbourne ranked second to Sydney on the list

In Melbourne, King and Wood Mallesons had the most recognised lawyers working in banking and finance, competition, construction and infrastructure, corporate, and mergers and acquisitions among others.

Clayton Utz is listed as Brisbane’s top law firm and has the most solicitors working in energy law, information technology law, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and oil and gas law in the city.

MinterEllison was identified as the overall top law firm in Australia, out of a total of 604 firms that had a presence on the list, with their lawyers working across 95 practice areas.