Lawyer Monthly - Women In Law Special Edition

WOMEN IN LAW EDITION LAWYER MONTHLY 15 his year marks the 100th year since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act, the legislation that allowed women to finally practice law, was passed in the UK. As the centenary of this landmark approaches, it is a sad fact that there remains a significant disparity in both pay and representation between male and female partners at law firms around the world. The gender gap remains a stubborn reality of the business of law- despite the best efforts of firms, clients and policymakers, not to mention the tireless efforts of women and men, to change the situation. What does gender inequality look like in practice? It starts with a wage gap and a dearth of leadership opportunities for women. Figures show that female lawyers in London earned 24% less than their male counterparts in 2018. In the US, the gap is at an incredible 53%. A McKinsey & Company report on gender diversity in the legal industry revealed that only 19% of equity partners are women, and that women are 29% less likely to reach the first level of partnership than men. Clients are taking note of the lack of diversity and are speaking out. Recently, 170 general counsel and chief legal officers at companies like Heineken and Getty Images signed an open letter to law firms demanding greater gender and racial diversity in their partner ranks. While the wage gap and dearth of leadership opportunities for women are troubling enough, an even more pernicious problem exists in the form of unconscious bias. The McKinsey report concludes that performance bias persists across all areas of business, including law. Men are typically assessed on their potential, whereas women tend to be assessed on their record. How might that play out to the detriment of women in law? To cite just one example: When a man takes a risk and loses, his superiors may be inclined to see his defeat as part of a learning curve and to assume that the case itself was most likely unwinnable; a woman in the same position might not be given the same benefit of the doubt and may, as a result, miss out on future opportunities. My own experience at Burford Capital, a global finance firm focused on law, offered another glimpse into the data behind the gender gap in law. For over almost ten years, I’ve looked at thousands of commercial litigation and arbitration matters worth hundreds of billions of dollars brought to Burford for potential financing—of which fewer than 10% have been led by women lawyers. What to do about these grim figures? It would be all too easy to respond with cynicism, to throw up our hands at the prospect of fixing something as big as bias, or to succumb to frustration over the frustratingly slow pace of change. But I would argue that instead, it’s time to re-evaluate how we approach a solution to the gender gap in law— focusing on culture and economics. At law firms, one word defines the culture: Competition. Lawyers T Men are typically assessed on their potential, whereas women tend to be assessed on their record “ “