News

Competition for talented solicitors is fierce, with an international skills shortage in the sector and strong demand for Australian solicitors to join firms in the UK, the USA, the Middle East and Asia. With an increasing number of women joining the legal profession every year, it seems logical to extrapolate that greater attention needs to be paid to devising strategies for successfully recruiting and retaining women within Australian law firms.

We're all aware of that old chestnut, the glass ceiling for women striving for partnership, but did you know that the number of women practising law halves at the age of 40, and then halves again at 50, while their male counterparts continue to work, exacerbating the culture of fewer women at the top? If the findings of the Law Institute of Victoria research continue to hold and "those who opt for a flexible work arrangement are less likely to be promoted", how then to foster that elusive nirvana - career satisfaction (read: increased staff retention) and a work/life balance?

Bill Chapman, partner of DLA Phillips Fox, a firm rated as "the most solid performer" of the top 10 surveyed by The Australian for workplace flexibility, believes that to attract and retain women, "you need the culture to encourage meritocracy and flexibility". With technological developments greatly aiding flexibility, all that remains is for firms to bring about the "attitudinal change necessary to bring flexible working practices into the mainstream", with Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, setting an explicit goal of a "30 to 35 percent benchmark" for solicitors to be employed on a part-time basis.

As "the vast majority of lawyers who work part-time are women", there is a need for firms to make part-time, job share and remote working capacities more readily accessible, and to strike a balance whereby promotion opportunities are not compromised and sound support and mentoring is provided to bring women up through the ranks.

Though the law firm environment is indisputably demanding on time and commitment, top tier firms and some outstanding women are leading the way in breaking the mold. Allens Arthur Robinson promoted two part-time Senior Associates to partnership last year, and partners such as Amanda Hempel at Gilbert and Tobin are making a success of running thriving practices while juggling work part-time.

In the immortal words of Faith Whittlesey, "Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels." The time to go forward in partnership is here.