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“Lucky Girls”
Reflections on what women need to succeed in City law firms
Introduction
Some of you reading this may have attended the “Lucky Girls” event held by the Company and generously hosted by Slaughter and May, on Tuesday 21st May 2024. To clarify, no one who attended that event was a “Lucky Girl” - everyone was there as an already successful professional operating at the top of their game.
The word “Lucky” in the title of our session was a reference, tongue in cheek, to the TikTok sensation known as “Lucky Girls” which suggests it is possible to make one’s own luck by simply putting a wish out to the universe. The idea goes like this – you want a convertible BMW, you make that known, and next thing is a convertible BMW appears in your driveway. It happens simply because you articulate your desire for it.
It is highly questionable whether it’s possible to manifest a promotion, but one of the things we wanted to touch on in at this event was the role which having a plan and pursuing it with the fullest of confidence can play when it comes to advancing in the law.
“Lucky Girls” was clearly a title which said something to many women lawyers working in City law firms – all available places were taken within three working days of being advertised and we ran a sizable wait list.
This article, prepared by the Company’s Master in 2023/24, Sarah de Gay, with the support of the incredible Panellists and Rapporteurs who played such a key part in delivering “Lucky Girls”, notes some of the themes
which emerged on the day and makes suggestions as to how this cross-firm conversation might continue. As the event was held under the Chatham House Rule, none of the views reported here are attributed.
What we did
Our afternoon began with a panel discussion, led by Jane Edwarde1 of Slaughter and May.
Our panel comprised a group of outstanding solicitors associated with the Company as members of its Court and Committees namely, Alexandra Marks CBE2, Clare Murray3 and Sophia Bell4, each being at a different stage of their legal career, from different law firms and with different legal specialties.
After our panel conversation, we asked our attendees to discuss three (linked) questions on their tables, facilitated by a designated table Rapporteur5.
The questions we set were:
• How far do you plan ahead when it comes to your career?
• Do you think you need a five year/similar plan to succeed?
• What would the key elements of any such plan be and how might the Livery Company support you in succeeding?
Each Rapporteur then shared their principal takeaways with the room before Sarah summed up by identifying some possible actions for the Company to consider in supporting woman solicitors with their career development.
Finding the right mentors and treating partners as your internal clients is also great practice for building relationships with external clients.
The panel discussion
The panel discussion, expertly led by Jane, centred on three issues:
• How far do you plan ahead when it comes to your career?
• Do you think you need a five year/similar plan to succeed?
• What would the key elements of any such plan be and how might the Livery Company support you in succeeding?
The main themes to emerge from this discussion were:
1. Making your own luck
In her introductory remarks, Sarah pointed out that there are many definitions of “luck” – her favourite being that luck happens when preparedness and opportunity coincide. In other words, we definitely have a role in making our own luck, and success is not brought about by chance alone.
The panel considered how women lawyers can approach making their own luck by sharing personal stories about what had worked for them so far in their legal careers.
Although not every panel member had had a ‘Master Plan’ for their career, they agreed that, in the early years of a legal career, it is crucial to be strategic and that persevering with your goals was key.
The legal industry is competitive, and success requires hard work, passion and a clear vision. Building relationships, profile and practice are fundamental. It is important to understand that opportunities and recognition must be earned, not given. As an associate, delivering chargeable hours is important, but when it comes to partnership consideration, a law firm will typically look at a lawyer’s practice, client base, network, profile, sponsors and allies. Laying the foundations of your business case early is essential.
But it is for each lawyer to define for themselves what ‘success’ looks like for them –whilst discussions had focussed on partnership, that might not be what every lawyer wants.
2. Being visible
The legal industry is one based on relationships, visibility, service and boldness.
Being visible from the outset, both within and outside your firm, including on social media, was felt to be important. Networking and building relationships are a key part of this.
Being bold and communicating your expectations was another key element. For instance, in an interview, don’t shy away from expressing your ambitions.
Get multiple mentors and sponsors of influence, to support your endeavours.
Be strategic (and therefore selective) about any internal roles you take on, ensuring they add value to your career. Avoid “housekeeping” roles which are administrative and internally-focussed as these won’t help you to develop contacts (internal or external) who will give you work.
Seek out and volunteer for the right Working Groups and Committees – don’t wait to be asked to join one (that invitation may never come). And think about which influential Committees you can join outside your firm which help to develop your specialism and further extend your network.
If you are not visible, then, it follows, you are invisible. This in turn reduces the chances of there being opportunities for others to support you.
3. Finding the right mentors
The panel touched on the difference between sponsors and mentors, agreeing that both were needed – firstly, a sponsor to champion you and your work and prospects to others of influence in your firm and secondly, and a mentor (or mentors) to provide you with support behind the scenes.
Typically, sponsors are allocated by a law firm once its lawyers reach a certain stage in their careers, whilst mentors can be found through a firm’s own formal mentoring schemes or through personal effort. Most panel members had benefited from finding their own mentors, with further benefit in seeking out mentors who would be prepared to deliver some hard messages – pointing out what you need to do more of, or better. Mentors who could introduce you to possible work-referrers were valuable too.
Finding the right mentors and treating partners as your internal clients is also great practice for building relationships with external clients.
The senior lawyers who were present agreed that, on the whole, it is flattering to be asked to mentor a more junior lawyer – and most requests will be responded to with a welcoming “yes”. The mentors themselves also said that they too had learned from the experience and that there is real value in reverse mentoring.
4. Approaching maternity leave
For women lawyers wanting to start a family, it is essential to know what to ask for from your firm regarding maternity leave and returning to work.
For example, asking for a return-to-work coach, for your clients to be returned to you, technical refreshers and (if needed) part-time working were all (usually) reasonable requests.
But it is important too for you to stay visible during your maternity leave and maintain your key relationships.
It was noted that those law firms which actively encourage their male lawyers to take parental leave were good firms to work for, and very forward-looking. Parental leave is such a short period of time, when spread across a long legal career, so it makes commercial sense, as well as being the right thing to do, to extend it to all as a great tool to retain talent and to support future leaders.
5. Avoiding the “you never told me” moment
Although a generalisation, it was thought there could be a tendency among female lawyers to work hard, work long hours and generally to behave as a ‘good citizen’ in their firm.
But after eight or ten years, the firm may ask “where’s your network, your significant relationships and your profile?” and for some this can result in a “you never told me I needed that” realisation.
Any such conversation or realisation could well coincide with wishing to start a family. And if these two things do coincide, it will be very hard to do what is needed professionally from scratch.
This circled back to the panel’s opening recommendation – that it’s important to be strategic from an early stage.
D. The table work
The main takeaways having listened to a fascinating panel discussion during which many personal anecdotes were shared, were:
• Have a vision rather than a plan - plans can be rigid. Having one might make it more difficult to take advantage of other opportunities that may arise. It might be better to work on having a vision.
• Be flexible – keep an ear out to opportunities and keep as many doors open as you can.
• Seek mentors from other sectors - don’t feel constrained when seeking out mentors. Find different mentors for different goals and stages of your career. Also, consider having several mentors at the same time.
• Use your firm’s appraisal process - be direct, make it clear what your ambitions are, explore what further support the firm can give you.
• Seize suitable opportunities when they come into range - for example, does your firm offer training in public speaking and presentational skills, and the chance to then practice those skills? If not, then volunteering to do this type of activity as much as possible could give you the practice and confidence to do it well.
• Take regular stock - do you enjoy what you are doing, are you moving towards your (own) goals, are you in the right firm?
• Reflect and adapt - it is OK to move roles and/or firms. Remember to ask yourself “is this where I want to be?”
• Define your own success - there are many routes and ways to succeed in law firms. Remember to ask yourself what you want.
• Have building blocks - although a rigid plan may not be the way to go, you need building blocks to support your career. These can vary – for example, some may find an ‘Of Counsel’ role is the right stepping stone.
• Be vocal - develop and control your own narrative. What are your career goals? Do you want to be on partnership track, or not? And if you are stepping off it, do you want to get back on it later, and why/when?
• Have boundaries - communication and trust are key to sharing boundaries with those you work with, so that you can reveal your non-negotiables. This can also help to sustain you through stressful periods and isn’t a conversation which should be limited to those with caring responsibilities. Remember to look after your health, including your mental health.
E. Conclusion
Sarah concluded by sharing her own takeaways and then mooting two areas the Company might reflect further on in terms of offering additional support to its younger female members:
• How to network - it had been suggested during the afternoon’s discussion, that there are elements of networking that can be taught. Might the Company facilitate a session on this?
• Mentor matching - there are many senior lawyers on the Company’s Court and Committees, and within its membership. Might the Company put younger female members in touch with those happy to be mentors?
And finally, the Sarah’s proudest take-away of the day was a comment (one of many) shared by an attendee, at the end of the day. “This was brilliant”, she said, “no one does this for us”.
If you have read this far and you are a solicitor who is practising or has practised in the City for at least six months, you can join the Company as a Freeman. Sarah would be happy to propose, and find a seconder for, anyone who attended “Lucky Girls” – see the Company’s website, or contact its Clerk (clerk@citysolicitors.org.uk), for further details. ν
Endnotes:
Since this article was written, another sell-out “Lucky Girls” event (a Masterclass on Networking) has been held, kindly hosted by Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and led by Esther Stanhope. “Lucky Girl” attendees have also shared some amazing ideas for future events so look out for future events in the “Lucky Girls” series. Any law firms interested in hosting these events please contact Sarah de Gay through the Solicitors’ Company office: (clerk@citysolicitors.org.uk).
1Jane is the Head of Slaughter and May’s Real Estate Group, and a Diversity and Inclusion partner, responsible for shaping the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategies and initiatives. Jane is also a sponsor partner of the firm’s Gender Equality Network and Social Mobility Network.
2Alexandra Marks was a partner at Linklaters LLP until 2011. She now sits as a part-time judge in the Crown Court, High Court and First-tier Tribunal. She chairs The Hardman Trust (supporting people on long sentences) and Discover (Children’s Story Centre based in Newham). She is also a trustee of The Howard League for Penal Reform, LawCare (the mental health and wellbeing charity for the legal professions) and Standing Tall (a homelessness charity). Alexandra was honoured with a CBE in 2017 and is a former Master of the City of London Solicitors’ Company.
3Clare is the founder and Managing Partner of specialist partnership, employment and SRA regulatory firm, CM Murray LLP. She acts for US and UK professional services firms, and for equity partners in professional services and investment management firms, in partnership and employment matters. Clare also specialises in providing strategic advice to senior executives and founders. She has a particular interest and expertise in sexual harassment matters; and in March 2018 was appointed as the specialist adviser to the House of Commons Women & Equalities Committee in respect of its Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Inquiry. Clare is a member of the Court of the City of London Solicitors’ Company.
4Sophia trained at Trowers & Hamlins LLP after working as a paralegal at the firm and at Shoosmiths LLP. She qualified as a solicitor in 2020 and moved to Macfarlanes LLP, as an associate in the banking & finance team. She acted on a broad range of financing transactions, including real estate finance, fund finance, acquisition finance, leveraged finance and structured finance. Sophia is a member of the City of London Solicitors’ Company and Vice Chair of its Whittington Committee - which is tasked with organising social and charitable events for the Company’s younger members, including participation in the Lord Mayor’s Show.
5We are grateful to Virginia Cannon, Professor Sara Chandler, Salome Coker, Uzma Hamid-Dizier, Lee McLernon, Gemma Porter, Tanja Velling and Victoria Young-Husband for performing these roles so enthusiastically and professionally.
Wig & Pen Prize 2024
The Wig & Pen Prize for pro bono work has been awarded to Liam Symonds, an Associate in Freshfields’ Dispute Resolution practice, in recognition of his dedication to pro bono legal work and his commitment to supporting marginalised communities.
Liam led a Freshfields team to secure a substantial victory for a modern slavery survivor in the First-Tier Tribunal. The case involved successfully overturning an initial refusal by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to award compensation. After four years of dedicated work, Liam’s team achieved a landmark result, with over £350,000 awarded - the highest known sum for a modern slavery survivor under the CICA scheme. The client, who had been held captive for more than 26 years, would have likely been unable to achieve this outcome without legal representation, a situation exacerbated by legal aid restrictions.
Beyond his work in this landmark case, Liam has represented numerous pro bono clients, including survivors of torture, race discrimination victims, and humanitarian charities. ■
SAVE THE DATE
25th February 2025 - Mansion House Banquet
Members of the City of London Solicitors’ Company and the City of London Law Society and guests are invited to our flagship event of the year. Look out for more details at www.citysolicitors.org and www.clls.org
