THE BIRMINGHAM POST, WOMEN IN LAW SUPPLEMENT
Friday, 16th October 2009
THE BIRMINGHAM POST, WOMEN IN LAW SUPPLEMENT
Through the glass ceiling and beyond
Denise McKenna and Sue Lewis, both members of Birmingham Law Society, are two women at different stages in their legal careers. Denise is a 36-year-old family law solicitor who qualified ten years ago and who joined Benussi & Co in 2007 after spending almost a decade with a magic circle firm in London, while 52-year-old Sue, one of the region’s legal heavyweights, is senior office partner at Eversheds, with more than 30 years’ experience under her belt. Here the pair share their views on life as women working in the legal sector.
According to the Lawyer magazine, in London just 25 per cent of partners are female and last year only 27 per cent of new partners in the top 30 law firms throughout the UK were women. But are these figures representative of Birmingham too?
Sue, who has witnessed the evolution of women’s roles in the legal community firsthand, said it depended on the type of work and the employer but that ultimately the issues facing women in the legal profession were no different to the issues facing women in all other walks of life.
“The treatment of women in the legal profession is something that has changed completely during my professional life,” she said.
“The attitudes of both employers and clients have changed significantly. When I joined Eversheds in 1980 there were only four female lawyers, including trainees and although Eversheds has always been an enlightened environment, that hasn’t always been the case amongst clients.
“I can remember a client who took me to lunch to thank me for some work I had done. It became obvious during the course of the meal that he thought I was my boss’ secretary, a common preconception about the roles of working women at that time.”
According to Sue, who is also the chairwoman of networking and lobbying group Birmingham Forward, at trainee level it is now the norm to see equal numbers of men and women.
“Today bigger firms look at their intake of trainees and it is more or less fifty-fifty as they recruit on merit,” she said.
“The bigger issue is that the percentage of women in the profession decreases at more senior levels.
“It is, however, important to note that choice can be a big factor in this. Women can choose to have a family and come back to work full-time, like I did, if they want to.
“Businesses now recognise that women are some of their best people and really want to keep them on board. They will therefore ensure that choices are available to them and that the choice isn’t the stark decision between staying at home or returning to work.
“Flexibility is important too. It helps to be able to work from home from time to time and with improved IT this is something that will help all lawyers including, of course, working mothers.”
Denise has not encountered the old fashioned attitudes to women in the workplace that Sue had to endure during the 1980s but her take on the choices facing women in the legal profession today is remarkably similar.
“I have found the legal community in Birmingham to be a friendly and supportive environment in which to practise law and the calibre of work on offer is second to none.
“In my experience working as solicitor in both London and Birmingham, my gender presented no issue.
“In my opinion the legal profession offers a level playing field for men and women and progression is based on merit.
“I am aware that statistically, more women than men have been entering the profession in recent years but that, traditionally, fewer women than men have held top roles.
“I suspect that 20 to 30 years ago gender may have played a part in that but in my view, that is no longer the case.
“A number of solicitors, be they men or women, now choose to step off the career ladder to act as the primary carer for children but the legal profession is no different to any other in this regard.
“Firms are also now paying more than just lip service to flexible working hours and are doing a lot to accommodate working parents.”
It seems both Denise and Sue agree that the dreaded glass ceiling is no longer an obstacle for women in law but something that they can choose to break through if they want to.
Yet despite their experience of equality, earlier this year the Law Society of England and Wales found that women in private practice actually took home 28.9 per cent less than men in the same positions, when differences in their working lives were ignored.
Even taking into account factors including experience and region, the survey of 1,200 UK-based lawyers found that women’s salaries were still six per cent behind their male counterparts.
Bernard Shepherd, president of Birmingham Law Society, is keen to address the imbalance between men and women in the legal profession.
“Birmingham’s legal community needs to make sure that women are equally paid for equal work and that they progress in the profession in the same way men do,” he said
“Women are underrepresented at top level in many firms and that is something that we all need to work together to address.
“We must find a way to retain female lawyers in senior positions and to support the ambitions of women who are working their way up through the ranks.
“It is encouraging that so many women are now entering the profession (this year 60 per cent of the UK’s intake of solicitors were women) and this bodes well for equality in the coming years.”
