Introduction
Foreword AUTUMN 2023
L
egal Women is now embarking on its fourth year, and I really appreciate the enormous support I have received. The magazine would not have been feasible without Benham Publishing, and in particular, the belief in the project of the managing director, Ian Fletcher. We have had many volunteers helping – thanks to all of you. I can’t namecheck everyone but three people who have been with this publication since its early days and have been consistently dedicated are our social media team (who now do so much more too) Charity Mafuba, Elizabeth Shimmell and Emma Webb. I’m delighted that sponsors are getting involved, as I want to ensure the magazine is sustainable for the future. I would like to maintain it as a completely free resource. With this in mind, I am setting up a link for readers to ‘buy’ the Legal Women team a virtual cup of coffee once a month. Not everyone can afford that, I understand, but for those who are working and enjoying the publication please do consider helping us in this modest way. We will publicise the link in social media and in a subsequent newsletter. I now turn to a sadder matter. I am dedicating this edition to a great friend and mentor, Elizabeth Cruickshank, who died earlier this year. I chose Elizabeth as my role model a few years ago, when writing about the centenary of the Sex Discrimination Act 1919 (the Act that allowed women to qualify as lawyers). My reasons included that Elizabeth had achieved a unique balance in her life, which pre-pandemic, was pretty unusual for a lawyer. Despite her focus on one area of research, Elizabeth continued with many other intellectual interests and physical activities. This is exactly what I wanted for my life – not to be consumed by one thing. I aspired, and still do, to be the well-rounded and inquisitive person that Elizabeth was. She and I had some similarities which made me think ‘maybe I can do what Elizabeth has done…’ and amazingly my path is developing that way. This is the power of role models.
We shared a love of Scotland – Elizabeth was born there, whilst my parents moved there when I was a teenager. We were both passionate about education of ourselves and others, particularly those whom the system fails. Elizabeth had been a teacher in Surrey (whereas I had taught in Sudan). She was a mother, a solicitor, a historical researcher, publisher of the magazine for the Association of Women Solicitors and an excellent golfer. I even liked her elegant clothes! In summary, she was someone I could admire and relate to; we could meet in Peter Jones for a cup of tea and discuss everyday things as well as writing projects. I first met Elizabeth when I submitted an article for the LINK magazine she edited and again later she spoke at AWS events about her research into female lawyers. She was painstakingly thorough, having read every single Law Society Gazette since its inception in 1903 (looking for any mentions of women so she could piece together who they were and what they were doing). For female lawyers of my generation, LINK* was a hard copy magazine sent by The Law Society of England and Wales to all those who wanted it. I vividly remember reading it in the middle of the night when my six-month-old son had woken the whole house – a reassuring read about what I might do later in my life. It gave me ideas of how people were juggling things and about other ways I could use my law qualifications and skills. I aspire to continue this in Legal Women. One particular legacy for me which I cherish, was Elizabeth gently suggesting that each of us invite a junior lawyer, as our personal guests to a legal dinner. This is such an elegant way of showing someone they are appreciated and giving them an insight or introductions in an unobtrusive way. As Elizabeth said, ‘What young person doesn’t like a free dinner?!’ ■
Coral Hill
Founder & Editor-in-Chief *LINK was in the pre-digital era but all back copies of LINK are held by the Women's Library and The Law Society of England and Wales Library.
Elizabeth Cruickshank 1944 - 2023
Obituary: Elizabeth Cruickshank | Profile | Law Gazette Tributes to Elizabeth Cruickshank | Feature - NIR News - UK Elizabeth Cruickshank - First 100 Years
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