Women And The Panopticon Of The Law (Part 4): Death To the Queen Bee

Four ideas for achieving better gender balance in law firm management, from columnist Jayne Backett.

businesswoman woman partner Biglaw female lawyer“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’t have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what it takes.'”

– Clare Boothe Luce

I have had some amazing mentors so far in my career, but they’ve mostly been men and it’s mainly men that I’ve seen championing female candidates for promotion. The majority of my role models in the legal profession are also male. I find this really frustrating as I would genuinely welcome some more women to look up to. I provide legal services for two heavily male-dominated sectors, banking and real estate, and I have begun to see women emerging into leadership roles more frequently, especially in-house, but the pace of change seems to be slow. This pace may change more rapidly in the UK when, from 2018, a number of businesses will be forced by law to publish their gender pay gap disparities. I am confident it will at least be a tool for accountability and will provide a platform for women to have conversations on a previously opaque issue.

Statistics demonstrate a clear lack of gender diversity within law firm partnerships. So, what is it about this profession that means women are not progressing?

A 2014 Chambers Student survey indicated that levels of female trainees in a spread of UK-based law firms ranged from between 48.6% in the Magic Circle to 64.5% in the regional firms, meaning there are, on average, more women being trained than men. The 2014 survey suggests that the percentage of female partners in law firms drops drastically to as low as 17.5% in the US firms to 26% in the regional firms. Something is going fundamentally wrong with how the profession nurtures, develops and retains female talent if more than half of all those trained are not staying in private practice.

Crucially, law firms are likely to be missing out financially from this lack of senior female representation. Earlier this year, the Peterson Institute for International Economics in collaboration with EY produced a report entitled “Is Gender Diversity Profitable?”, which was backed by analysis of 21,980 global, publicly traded companies. The report found resounding evidence that having at least 30% of women in the “C Suite” (senior executive roles) adds 6% to net profit margins.

The fundamental question is: How do we achieve better gender balance in law firm management specifically?

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There are four techniques that I think are essential and that could be deployed by law firms simply and quickly in relation to their women:

1) Spotlighting

One of the points that Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In (affiliate link) hit upon so accurately is the issue women have of making themselves heard and getting attention for themselves, their brand, their attributes and abilities. By consciously spotlighting women in the organisation, the pace of change in diversity misalignment may well accelerate. I have seen this done very well where women, who are not already partners, are encouraged to take on responsibilities and speak about the performance of the initiative they are tasked with to the partnership on a regular basis. It is the exposure of women to management and management to women that can help begin to bridge gaps. Equally, if partnerships have women at the table but they are in the minority, asking them for their thoughts or contributions is a very good way to spotlight female perspectives and make time for their voices to be heard.

2) Empowerment to lead

Leadership involves the complicated dynamic of motivating different individuals to achieve a joined-up aim. I am always reminded of the difficulties of leadership when I watch episodes of “The Apprentice”, which is a British TV show that tracks a set of candidates who are seeking seed capital for their businesses as they perform team tasks over several weeks. The best team leaders are usually those that are able to identify the strengths of the wider team quickly and communicate effectively to direct those strengths. Corporate law firms are rich with leadership opportunities because, essentially, they service a series of mini projects, whether they are cases, advisory matters or transactions. They are also typically hierarchically structured, so internal reporting lines can be easy to establish without too much fuss. If departmental managers are focussed on developing women in their team, they must empower them with leadership opportunities frequently, so that a leadership skillset can be honed.

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3) Marketing Plans

If law firms could give more strategic thought to how they ensure that women can be involved and remain involved in marketing in law firms, I am almost certain that more women would make it to partnership. Client support is absolutely critical to the process of becoming a partner. If clients want to work with someone, they will probably exert the right amount of pressure on that firm and provide the positive recommendations needed to propel that person through the system. If women are not getting enough marketing exposure with clients at the firm, the reasons for that should be analysed and addressed. If it is because a woman cannot commit to evenings, question whether they could market with clients who prefer breakfast or lunch events? If it is because they don’t appear to like sport, question whether they’d like to go along anyway? As a business-development exercise, people are often prepared to spend time at events they may not choose to attend personally if it means they can meet new contacts. Question whether too much budget is being spent on too narrow a set of activities and whether people have diverse ideas that could encompass a broader spectrum of participants.

4) Maternity Coaching

I was offered the services of a maternity coach when I was pregnant at work and it was particularly helpful in planning my exit and re-integration into the firm. Lots of people won’t appreciate or understand the value of it and may dismiss it as nonsense, but I credit it as a primary reason that I have remained in private practice. I had very few role models to look up to when I had my children and those who were around were, quite understandably, frantically busy with their own workload and family commitments. I was the first of my group of departmental associates to have children and so I didn’t have a lot to benchmark from by way of managers or peers. I leaned heavily on that outside advice to work on ways that I could give the right messages in departing and returning to work and managing visibility whilst I was away. It is a financial investment by the law firm, but one I would encourage firms to make. When the law firms consider how much they have already invested in training women at entry level, it is a relatively small investment to provide a few hours of coaching in order to try and retain a valuable talent pool. It is also educational for the firm itself, which will receive information on what the coaches are seeing other firms do for their women and the types of adaptations and practices that are proving successful.

I have no desire whatsoever to be a Queen Bee in my organisation; I truly hope that senior women in law firms will make a concerted effort to support initiatives that benefit other women. We can’t work this unbelievably hard to prove ourselves as capable, only to pull up the rope ladders behind us.


Jayne BackettJayne Backett is a partner at Fieldfisher LLP in London specializing in banking transactions, with a particular focus on real estate financing. Fieldfisher is a 600-lawyer European law firm, with a first-class reputation in a vast number of sectors, specifically, financial institutions, funds, technology and fintech, retail, hotels and leisure, and health care. Jayne has a depth of experience in mentoring and training junior lawyers and has a passion for bringing discussions on diversity in law to the forefront. She can be reached by email at jbackett@hotmail.com, and you can follow her on Twitter: @JayneBackett.