When I recently attended the second ever women lawyers conference at the Law Society’s august building in Chancery Lane, in the heart of legal London, I was asked to “deal with” the press. This consisted of one telephone interview with a local radio station. (Others to whom I offered the benefit of my comments did not seem interested.)
The local radio presenter, however, quite pugnaciously asked a question which has since come up on several occasions in conversation with other lawyers: Why have a women lawyers conference? Isn’t all that sort of thing outdated? In the cramped quarters of the telephone box at the Law Society, I defended “our” patch. Of course it was ne- cessary to have a women’s conference. Women had been treated as second class citizens in the law ever since I could remember. Where are the women in high office? There was still not a single female Law Lord, and only one Lady Justice (who had to be addressed as Lord Justice when first appointed). Why were only four women made QCs this Easter? There were 64 males selected for silk.
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