Earlier this year, one of my team members relayed a conversation
he'd had with a well-intentioned colleague who was grappling
with issues around his client's equal opportunity briefing
policy. He wanted to expand the number of female barristers on
their firm's panel and was looking for names of female
barristers that could be included based on their experience in
their area of law. Though my colleague dutifully suggested a few
who immediately came to mind, the conversation ended with the
rhetorical question, "Why are there so few female
barristers?".
Much has been written recently about the fact that, amongst the
solicitor's branch of the profession, 53% of its members are
now female – a statistic disclosed by the most recent
"State of the Profession" report. When one considers
the high number of female graduates from law schools, the see-saw
is sure to tip further in favour of those members of our profession
with only X chromosomes. According to the 2020 report,
