December 2019/January 2020 Issue

After a long year it’s usually a good idea to take stock and reflect on what you’ve achieved and what you’ve still to accomplish. As 2019 draws to a close, I wanted this issue of fivehundred to look back once again at a key issue we have covered over these last 12 months – women in law.

2019 marked the centenary of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, a piece of legislation which paved the way for women to become lawyers in the UK. There’s no denying women and the profession have come a long way since Carrie Morrison and Mary Dorothea Heron became the first women to be admitted as solicitors in England and Ireland, respectively; since Helena Normanton and Mithan Tata became the first women to practice at the English and Indian Bars, respectively; since Margaret Kidd was appointed the first King’s Counsel in Scotland; since Dame Catherine Fiona Woolf DBE JP became the first female partner at CMS Cameron McKenna and Diana Parker became the first female chair of Withers; and, of course, since Baroness Hale was appointed the first woman Justice of the Supreme Court.

But while these – and many, many more – watershed moments for equality have been rightly celebrated collectively throughout the past year, law firms must not allow the development of women in law to continue at the same glacial pace over the next 100 years. Instead, legal businesses the world over must correctly recognise the women within their ranks, retain their undoubted talent, correctly remunerate them for the work they do so well, and elevate them to the leadership positions deserved.

As mentioned in previous issues of this magazine, The Legal 500 is committed to doing its bit in highlighting the many brilliant women working in the legal sector via our various guides; this is a work in progress, but my fellow editors and I promise there are more exciting developments to come in the year ahead. And yet, as we say goodbye to 2019 and prepare for a new decade to begin, I want this fivehundred to once again act as a showcase for women in law, the successes they have achieved, and the challenges they still face.

Identifying barriers to female leaders, Irwin Mitchell’s managing partner in London, Alison Eddy, explains how to create a working environment that allows you to attract the best and brightest talent, while Littleton Chambers’ Charlene Ashiru provides advice on how to balance practice at the Bar with parenthood; and Maria-Leticia Ossa-Daza, head of Willkie’s Latin America practice talks about gender and racial bias in law. We also take a look at the Mansfield Rule with contributions from Pepper Hamilton and Orrick.

But we’re not done with hearing from leading women lawyers: Lavazza GC Simona Musso speaks with senior research analyst Sara Mageit about being a woman in a senior business role – and putting the first espresso machine in space; Allen & Overy’s Astrid Krüger talks about the challenge of handing over from one generation to the next; Van Doorne’s Elisabeth Thole explains how women made tech law their own; and 5SAH Chambers’ Louisa Collins provides an insight into the life of a specialist extradition barrister. Plus, our head of in-house content, Fiona Fleming, talks to BELAW’s Jerry Tucker about securing a record A$190m settlement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders whose wages were stolen in Queensland, Australia.

US content editor Helen Donegan graces this month’s issue with no fewer than four must-read interviews: first, A. Verona Dorch, Peabody Energy’s chief legal officer, reveals what she looks for in outside counsel and the importance of diversity; Parley Pro CEO Olga V. Mack believes in-house lawyers are leading the way with legal tech ; Arnold & Porter’s global and US heads of antitrust and competition, Debbie Feinstein and Jonathan Gleklen, talk about their team’s rise up the US rankings; and, finally, she profiles litigation powerhouse Selendy & Gay, a majority women-owned US firm.

Back on this side of the pond, UK solicitors editor Georgina Stanley talks to elite law firms jockeying for position in London’s leveraged finance market about recent key trends, and she also takes the temperature in Manchester’s legal hub, speaking to leading firms about north-shoring, the work-life balance debate, and Brexit uncertainty. Also worth a read is deputy Bar editor Will Tolcher’s report on the rising tide of litigants in person and McKenzie friends in UK courts, and yours truly highlights the best ranked sets from the 2020 guide.

But we’re still not done in this holiday double issue, as we also hear from Venable’s chief revenue officer, Gunther Schumacher, on marketing and innovation in law; IndusLaw’s co-founder Suneeth Katarki on India’s war for talent; and Ten Old Square Chambers’ Keith Plowman talks about how clerks must protect their key assets’ welfare.

I do hope you enjoy this last 2019 issue of fivehundred. We are now off for a short break but we’ll be back in February with another issue chock full of exclusive interviews and market insight. Until then, from our family to yours, season’s greetings and a happy new year.

John van der Luit-Drummond