Lawyer Monthly Magazine -December 2019 Edition

23rd December 2019 marks the centenary of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 which paved the way for women to become lawyers for the first time and this month, we thought it would be great to reflect on how far women in law have come, and how far still there is to travel. We celebrate a female President of the Supreme Court; more women than ever before entering the profession; and accessibility to groups to support, upskill and mentor female lawyers at an all-time high. And yet there is a huge way still to go. Retention rates for female lawyers remain low: in 2019, 52% of new entrants to the solicitors’ profession are women, down to 29% at partner level, and just 19% equity partners. That’s not to mention the disparity in numbers of female Silks (15%), Judges (28%) and Court of Appeal Judges (21%). With us celebrating ‘100 years of women in law’, below we reflect on the challenges women still face and explore the solutions behind ensuring that these challenges are not the reason why women are left behind in the legal sector. 29 DEC 2019 | WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM Working Parents The Western Circuit Women’s Forum “Back to the Bar” Survey found 1 almost two thirds of those leaving were women, most citing difficulties balancing work and family. Those remaining did so with the assistance of significant shared care or flexible working arrangements. Judicial Bullying On 11th February 2019, Chair of the Criminal Bar, Chris Henley QC, 2 raised the spectre of abuse of power by Judges, impacting upon all counsel, women in particular, together with the consequent impact on well- being and morale. Harassment Criminal barrister Joanna Hardy’s tweet about “stag do behaviour” of men towards female colleagues “went viral.” 3 It provided a depressing insider view of a male dominated, inherently sexist culture, in which women are disadvantaged, their needs overlooked in particular due to traditional court listing practices, and “old boy” behaviour. On 12th July 2016, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) published a report entitled “Women at the Bar” 4 exploring why women leave: around two in every five respondents said they had suffered harassment or discrimination. Unconscious Bias According to the Law Society’s Women in Leadership in Law Toolkit 5 , published July 2018, unconscious bias was present from the recruitment process, then in work allocation, and continued throughout the various stages of career progression from performance reviews, to promotions and partnership selection. Gender Pay Gap Additional challenges highlighted in the toolkit included fewer opportunities for good quality client work, promotion and reward, particularly bearing in mind gender pay gap: Men out- earned women at every level of the legal profession despite that since 1990, women represent over 60% of new entrants into the profession, and as of 2017 women are the majority of practising solicitors. The Challenges