Megan talks to Charity Mafuba about all things lawyering and female empowerment

ARTICLE

Megan talks to Charity Mafuba about all things lawyering and female empowerment

Megan is a lawyer at Conde Nast and was previously at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She is also a writer, thought leader and advocate for women.

1. What made you decide to become a lawyer?

I always wanted to be a lawyer; there are photos of me “playing lawyer” as a young girl. I believe that I felt, and still feel, that law is something important as it enables you to make a meaningful impact on the world. I continued to feel this way in my career as a corporate lawyer, manifesting in the work I did to advance gender equality in a male-dominated field. I feel an immense sense of privilege and responsibility to advance society toward the greatest good and make it a fairer, more just and more inclusive place for all people.

2. How has your experience been, working as female lawyer in the corporate world?

It has often felt empowering and purposeful; I felt that by being one of the few women in the room, I was raising up other women with me and clearing more of the way for women who come after me. Though, I feel the corporate world has not yet fully adjusted or adapted to being a place both open for everyone and reflecting our current collective consciousness. I believe a lot has gotten stuck in the status quo. There are many things I see that I feel motivated to change, for example how it is still the norm to work five (or more) long days a week rather than allowing ourselves space to rest and breathe. Or how systemic problems like balancing work and family life are treated as individual issues which women must solve for themselves. Or how there remains a pernicious narrative that we must “fix” women – for example, by sending them on courses to help them be more assertive but not too assertive, etc. – rather than that we must fix our structures and systems.

3. What was your pre-baby professional life like?

I spent nearly ten years at Freshfields, known as one of the world’s leading law firms. I always felt immense gratitude to have my job, knowing how long and hard I had worked toward my dream of becoming a lawyer. My life was mostly all about work; work was the lead factor in everything I did, around which everything else revolved. For example, one day a partner came into my office to ask me if I wanted to go on secondment to Hong Kong; I said yes nearly on the spot. I feel proud to have played my part in market-significant, transformative transactions, such as initial public offerings on the London Stock Exchange, for leading international companies, and I loved working with each of my clients. With every transaction and every client, I learned so much about a company and an industry, and I loved being part of a cross-functional team working toward a common goal.

4. How has motherhood impacted the way you manage your career?

As a mother of a one-year-old, I no longer have the ability (perhaps even the “luxury”) to focus as much of my time and energy on my career as I did pre-baby. I believe I now have two jobs as a mom and a lawyer, and they both mean a lot to me in different ways and for different reasons. I believe that in both roles I am working toward my purpose of creating a new and transformed paradigm for our world. I now work in the inhouse legal team at Conde Nast and love contributing toward the strategic objectives and vision of a company whose values inspire me and reflect my own. I also have built in more time and space for life outside of work, which I now view as incredibly important in a way that I didn’t pre-baby. As a result, I feel I can be a present mom, and also bring to life other passions, including my yoga practice and my writing. I published my first book during my maternity leave (a book of insights for all daughters) and I plan to write another. I’m also beginning a yoga teacher training programme this Spring.

5. What barriers have you had to overcome in order to persevere and maintain a successful legal career?

I grew up in a family that valued education and had the means to send me to university and nurture my belief that I could do anything I set my mind to and worked hard for. I acknowledge my privilege in not facing some of the barriers that many of my fellow humans face. I believe my biggest barriers have been internal – finding the courage to be brave when I have felt powerless and learning to trust myself and my own path. I believe a “successful” legal career means something different for each of us; we must each figure this out for ourselves.

6. You are an avid advocate for women and have made some progress in your quest to eliminate bias. Can you please talk me through your efforts with the Freshfields Women’s Network?

Thank you for saying that; I feel privileged to have been able to do what I did. One effort was the change to stop using “Dear Sirs” and instead use gender neutral language: it hit me one day that enough was enough, and I presented my idea to the senior partner with whom I then worked to implement this change as a new global firm policy.

We were the first Magic Circle firm to ban the use of “Dear Sirs” and other firms followed. It felt to me at the time that we were creating a seismic shift with what could be viewed as a “small” change. Another effort was the creation of the Every Day Gender Equality (EDGE) Commitment: I worked with the other co-chairs of the London Women’s Network to create and then launch a pledge for people to commit to taking ten actions in their everyday working lives to combat the problems that still persisted to hinder equality. Examples included, planning client events that are inclusive and calling out non-inclusive behaviour when it happens. More than 2,000 people had initially signed the Commitment and I believe it both raised awareness and caused meaningful actions to take place.

7. What advice would you give to women in general who are entering the legal profession?

Use your voice and be your authentic self. It may not always be easy to do this, and so if it ever feels difficult, connect to a force bigger than you: our collective place in society as women.

8. What advice would you give to women in the legal profession, who have children or those who are considering motherhood, with regards to juggling the dual priorities of work and motherhood?

Always remember that you have so much to offer as a lawyer, and I believe even more so as a mother with all of the unique and superhuman abilities you acquire. Employers have a responsibility to do everything they can to ensure that you are able to show up at work and thrive! As Gloria Steinem, the legendary women’s rights activist, said, it was not her job to make women feel grateful for what they have; it was her job to make them feel ungrateful, so they keep going. I wish for all of us to take this to heart be ungrateful and ask for and then demand more.

9. What are some of the inclusive changes you would recommend, that law firms should incorporate to ensure and enable women maintain successful legal careers like their male counterparts?

Listen to the women as to what they want and need, and then act on it. Be willing to put people over profit. Live your values and if you say you care about retaining women, then demonstrate that in your actions, policies and behaviours. Otherwise, it is purely lip service, which actually harms women because it masks the reality of the situation. Also, embrace changes to the billable hour model and the “always working” culture. For example, implement a four-day work week or shorter days; I believe this would significantly benefit everyone’s life and well-being, and also has the additional benefit of increasing inclusion because people (such as working mothers) who want or need to work less won’t be viewed or treated as less committed or less capable or like they are inconveniencing the system or the team.

10. Finally, what progress do you think has been made thus far, in the strive for equality and elimination of bias in the legal profession?

I believe many people are now aware that bias exists; I believe there has been a lot of work done to identify the problem and its causes. I would like to see this continue to translate into more meaningful and transformative actions being taken – for all of us to work together to create the vision we can see and, I believe, is within our reach. ■