Women Leaders in Law Summit in Lisbon

Women in Law from many countries came together to discuss leadership. In most European jurisdictions, the issue is no longer a lack of women qualifying but an inability to retain women in the legal profession.

Many of the speakers emphasised that the underlying issue is cultural and the expectation that women will be the homemakers and caregivers, possibly to their own children but also for parents and other family members. This often creates exceptional pressures on women.

Coral Hill, the founder of Legal Women spoke about overcoming barriers to female leadership. Here is a summary of the points covered.

Barriers to Leadership:

1. Misogyny from ‘jokes’ to discriminating against women for certain work.

2. Sense of not belonging – ‘women don’t make a good team fit with the existing team’.

3. Assumptions cultural and biological.

4. Inflexibility / having to hide personal life.

5. Traditional networking.

6. Being overlooked in terms of performance and / or potential.

Ways to overcome the barriers to leadership:

• Women’s networks are essential for support and ideas on how to tackle situations. It’s shocking how often workplaces claim that “gender parity” has been achieved but how many women leaders are in those workplaces? Typically, it reveals that it is normal for the women not to be leaders and that discrimination is not even registering with the other demographic groups.

• Recruit male allies and ambassadors within the workplace, particularly to deal with micro-aggressions and inappropriate banter and behaviours.

• Put resource into ensuring that everyone has a sense of belonging/ team building and varying ways of interacting – not always after work drinks! Alternatives to traditional networking (drinking and sport) might involve writing, online events, speaking, engaging through social media. Consider holding daytime events – this may well also attract new sectors of clients who prefer this type of networking.

• Provide mentors – often important for someone with no exposure to law before

• Provide coaching during maternity leave – there are law firms which use independent coaches not just for the woman who is on maternity leave but also for their line manager to ensure there is an intermediary for difficult conversations. This is a critical period for retention of talent.

• Sponsorship – this is often someone staking their own reputation by ensuring a junior lawyer is ‘in the room with opportunities’ and therefore more likely to be considered for a leadership position.

• Flexibility at work is advantageous for all – it’s not just about being a parent but for all sorts of other commitments and passions outside work.

• Provide paid parental (and grandparent) leave for men and women – this is essential to ensure a level the playing field in recruitment and promotion to leadership roles.

• If you work from home, be visible and strategic. Send periodic emails to your manager summarising your contribution