women and the legal profession

Question 1

Francis quote on gender

Answer 1

‘gender is clearly a significant category of disadvantage, and the subordination of women within the legal practice has been well documented’

Question 2

Lord Neurbeurger (recent examples of debate around gender)

Answer 2

“what we need is a change in culture” - solicitors with family responsibilities inevitably work fewer hours and lose out to “obsessive testosterone men” who work 24/7

but those with more balanced lives can be more effective at their job and arguably able to bring more to the firm.

Question 3

100 plus firms statistics (long road ahead) - plus general stat

Answer 3

only two out of 100 have 50% female partners

female lawyers made up over 50% entering into legal profession but not progressing to higher roles.

Question 4

2014 statistics on women in legal profession

Answer 4

47% female trainees

24% female partners

Question 5

newspaper example of sexism in workplace

Answer 5

barrister faced serious backlash after speaking out over sexist complimentary remark made by solicitor on linkedin; facing “career suicide”

women not being taken seriously enough to progress further in their profession = we should be grateful for what men have “allowed” us to participate in already

Question 6

Defining terms (formally we have these, but how far do we have them substantively?)

EQUALITY:

Answer 6

equality = idea seeks to ensure individuals or group of are treated fairly and equally and not less favourably to their particular needs - dichotomy between formal equality and substantive equality can be seen in legal profession: on the surface the cultural setting of the workplace and entry into the legal prof reflects equal opportunity but equality within institution itself has not been successfully addressed.

• equality might not be as relevant in university context and in access to legal education/qualifications, but does it matter in judiciary panel?

Question 7

Defining terms (formally we have these, but how far do we have them substantively?)

DIVERSITY:

Answer 7

Diversity = importance of need to recognise, respect and value people’s differences to contribute & realise their full potential.

• promotion of this in legal profession can offer a wide range of resources, skills, ideas and energy to the business providing a ‘competitive edge’
• Law firms will also reap the benefits of resourcing from a ‘wider pool of talent’, improving productivity and raise profile.

Question 8

Advantages of both equality and diversity

Answer 8

• in a diverse society these professions and social institutions should better reflect the ‘reality’ of society and this would in turn promote the legitimacy of law firms (particularly judicial diversity - where decisions and precedents are set that ultimately impact society as a whole for decades after)
• Law has been marked as setting an example to society; a profession that does not accommodate child care and flexible working could have devastating effects for individuals and society as a whole as the law is presenting a position that does not reflect the reality that the majority face.

Question 9

What is a profession?

Answer 9

trait model = idea that there is something inherently special about professional knowledge that makes it distinct from other fields of work

market control approaches = sees professionalism as a way of organising and controlling certain areas of work (i.e. regulating sizes of a profession)

Question 10

Examples of stratification (Sullivan) - areas of work

BAD

Answer 10

women have been noted to more likely work in community orientated and lower paid fields (e.g. family, employment & benefits)

Question 11

Examples of stratification (DCA) - early career choices

BAD

Answer 11

areas of law designated for women heightened by fact people are directed towards these areas at early stages of career. - this is used as possibly explanation for narrowing pool from which applicants are selected for silk and judiciary.

Question 12

Examples of stratification (sullivan) - judiciary

BAD

Answer 12

women reluctant to apply for judiciary due to perceived lack of flexibility it offers (usually ones burdened with family responsibilities) - female judges agree, talented women are lost to the profession due to its unwillingness to offer flexible ways of working.

Question 13

Berrymans Lace Mawer firm (example of flexible working positive)

Answer 13

firm has highest proportion of female partners in top 100 = 35% - this is attributed to firm’s focus on defendant insurance work, which allows greater flexibility in time management and availability of part-time working arrangements to partners.

shows positivity of flexibility in fragmenting stratification)

Question 14

(issue with Berryman Lace Mawer)

survey by King’s college London & Association of Women’s solicitors

Answer 14

found that half of women lawyers considered that solicitors who took up flexible working were “viewed as less serious about their careers” and has negative effects on promotion aspects.

Question 15

Stats of stratification (the times)

Answer 15

women make up 51% joining legal profession but only 26% in judiciary

Question 16

Stratification quote (Sullivan)

passive barrier

Answer 16

‘the culture of the profession creates a passive barrier for females’

e.g. networking seen as an essential requirement for progression in the profession and often involves women participating in male past times (golf) and are often told about after-hour events they may not be able to go to because of family commitments

NETWORKING EVENTS REQUIRE WOMEN TO ASSUME GENDERED ROLES

Question 17

examples of fragmentation (Law Society + Sullivan) - diversity

GOOD

Answer 17

a greater increase in diversity of legal profession after research from law society concluded that large law firms indirectly discriminated against ethnic minority students by selecting trainees on basis of the higher education institution they attended and so indirectly their social background.

Sullivan reported BME students had higher desire to fit in when picking universities so avoided red brick universities despite their potential and academic ability

Question 18

Fragmentation (Francis) - expansion of lawyers

GOOD

Answer 18

there has been an expansion in number of lawyers available and work opportunities from living in an increasingly legalised society.

Question 19

Fragmentation (Francis) volume of work available

GOOD

Answer 19

increase in sheer volume of law/litigation/regulation - growth and complexity in legislation governing all aspects of social life provides an abundance of diverse legal work that requires a diverse selection of lawyers

(BUT, who gets what job? discrimination on who work assigned to)

Question 20

Fragmentation (Francis) - rise of salaried employment

GOOD

Answer 20

rise of salaried employment over past two decades after move from solo practice to firms - providing more flexibility to be implemented in the workplace.

Solo practice historically male dominated and so movement to firms where there is an increased pressure to promote diversity and equality has arguably helped to brighten the prospect of today’s young females joining the legal profession

Question 21

Fragmentation (Francis) - positive of early career choice

GOOD

Answer 21

increasing specialisation from early on in career could provide more opportunities for women to progress further in particular areas of law that they dominate

(but stratification)

Question 22

Brief history of women in the legal profession (two spheres + thornton and McGlynn critique)

Answer 22

women associated with PRIVATE sphere and professions as part of PUBLIC sphere (mainly male)

the separation of male and female into these spheres was justified on assumption of biological difference between the two as outlined by Thornton.

women faced the “womb-brain” dilemma” - McGlynn

Question 23

Bebb v Law Society (history of women in LP)

Answer 23

graduated oxford with first in jurisprudence and was rejected registration as a trainee solicitor because she was not a ‘person’ under the Solicitors act 1843 for these purposes

sought declaration to be declared person within meaning of act and case dismissed on grounds she was incapable because of her sex & unless relevant laws changed.

Question 24

Since Bebb v Law Society (progress)

Answer 24

1919 sex discrimination act = remove legal barriers to women entering profession

transformation focus on female solicitors and since 1984 has grown tenfold.

Question 25

Human capital theory

Answer 25

FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL CHOICE

• careers not determined by structural & cultural forces but rather are a product of an individual response
• Hakim; different career trajectories in men and women are understandable
• employers will simply employ the best
• females choose to leave job for other commitments BUT constructive dismissal: women invest a lot of money, education and time to their careers but may leave because of discrimination and derogatory attitudes of firm.

Question 26

The trickle up theory (stats)

Answer 26

• 2015 stats for solicitors bar = 50.3% male, 49/7% female and 14.2% BME
• women accepted on law course = 67.3%
• women obtaining a training contract = 61.2%

Question 27

trickle up theory

Answer 27

diversification is evidently beginning to fragment the ‘supply side’ of historically male dominated profession BUT, this has not translated into proportion representation at senior levels of either branch of the profession (solicitors barristers) = continued stratification in hierarchy of jobs.

Question 28

segmented profession

Answer 28

argument law remains segmented/stratified profession on gender, race and class and is a profession that lags behind other fields of work.

Question 29

segmented profession (Mcglynn - motherhood)

Answer 29

motherhood appears to be taken as automatic evidence of reduced commitment in a way that fatherhood does not - result = women of child bearing age seen as making similar commitment to men only is they “choose” not to have children and clearly demonstrate they have made that choice

Question 30

segmented profession (article - Rachel Proudman)

Answer 30

wrote on sexism she faced during her time in the legal profession; stated institutional sexism in the legal profession will only end when lawyers confront its existence and the failure of this to be effectively addressed leaves women in LP ‘invisible in shaping laws that impact women’s lives’

Question 31

somerland critique (fragmentation of legal profession into competitive businesses)

Answer 31

fragmentation of legal profession into competitive business corporations had particularly significant consequences for women = move to an industrial mode of production entailed the re-constitution of legal work resulting in specialised parts of work being assigned different hierarchies of the ‘legal profession’ =

women represented the new disposable resource which could be utilised to carry out routine work (whilst men carried out bigger corporate areas of work) = business model that entrenched intensification of long hours’ work ethic and its incompatibility with caring responsibilities.

Question 32

Someralnd critique (positive - progress)

Answer 32

big firms have begun to realise the problems with the demographic profile and are slowly making efforts to see an increase in proportion of women partners

BUT, firms still unwilling to make changes regarding working conditions which may mean that talented female & BME lawyers may miss out on promotion & progression in their career due to social issues out of their control and unrecognised by the LP

Question 33

reform - lawyers focusing on change

Answer 33

lawyers themselves calling for change with the set up of organisations such as national association of women solicitors and ‘women’s lawyers division’ of the law society.

Question 34

government focus on access to legal profession agenda (reform)

Answer 34

propose to remove LPC & GDL in replacement of “solicitors super exam” is going to increase access to profession and make it cheaper for aspiring lawyers who will not have to take LPC gamble of spending over £15,000 with no certainty of training contract

PROBLEM: access to legal profession is not the key issue in promotion of diversity and equality = chief of law society noted in 2015 that super exam would benefit wealthier students and could promote the nepotism women have been fights against for so long.