Welcome

Welcome

LAUNCH 2020

Build back better has become a mantra with meaning. Now is a critical time for the United Kingdom due to the pandemic and Brexit, whatever side of the debate you are on, this is our time to define to ourselves and women’s agenda for the future. Over half the population are women, we must be involved in the discussion and taking decisions at all levels.

Twenty-five years ago, the United Nations agreed to a comprehensive policy and action plan on gender equality. It provides a vision of social justice and human rights, which the whole world is still struggling to achieve. One sector, I would expect to be further ahead than others is the world of law, but that’s not the case. In fact, annual reporting in the UK shows that even large law firms, despite their Diversity & Inclusion policies and departments, are still firmly controlled by men who hold an extraordinary 70 to 80% of the partnership positions. Appointments to QC for female barristers remains stubbornly low, below 20%. Both sets of statistics, feed into the gaping gender pay gap between male and female lawyers. It’s often suggested that the real underlying reasons are women’s life choices but as the centenary round tables showed this is not female lawyers ‘lived experience’. The cultural assumptions about ‘what women really want‘ are often overpowering, sometimes for women as much as for men. These issues do not affect just one branch of our profession but all women working in the law, qualified or not. It’s a critical factor for the whole of society and harnessing the contribution women can make to the workforce, will enhance not only the business of law firms and chambers but aid the overall economic recovery from the pandemic. So Legal Women aims to create a forum for information, inspiration and innovation – to air ideas and evidence for debate on how to build back better.

Why now?

The idea for a magazine developed from communicating with the Law Society of England and Wales about how to keep our institutions relevant and representative – to achieve this inevitably requires regular external appraisal and liaison with stakeholders. Despite the significant success of our 174th President, Christina Blacklaws, in raising the profile of the campaign for gender parity, it still isn’t consistently seen as a central issue by the whole profession. It takes clout to ensure that the importance of gender parity does not recede and this magazine can be a platform for the national voice for women lawyers already involved in excellent groups. Two outstanding Legal Women promoting that voice are Dana Denis-Smith, solicitor and founder of Obelisk, and Sally Penni, barrister and creator of multimedia resources; Dana through the immensely successful First 100 Years project (Next 100 Years) and Sally by setting up Women in Law UK, writing widely and broadcasting. Legal Women’s Communities page lists all the UK groups we know, however small, and I urge you to join one or form a new one. ■

Coral Hill

Founder & Editor

Launching a magazine takes an army of supporters: enormous thanks to, Charity Marfuba. Bhini Phagura, Gillian Fielden, Tilly Rubens, Alice Jellard, April Parker, Stephanie Anais, Camilla Uppal, Kane McLaughlin, Lily Hood, and all those who have kindly given me snippets of advice and encouragement.