Former Law Soc president says women’s talents woefully underused in legal profession

The Law Society recently celebrated International Women's Day (8 March) with a speed networking event, but within the context of a warning that women solicitors are still not “making it as far as the boardroom in their legal careers”.

Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, chair of the Law Society's Equality and Diversity Committee and former Law Society president, said that the profession must look past the statistics and establish why women are not doing as well as their male colleagues - especially in light of the fact that women represent almost half of the profession.

Scott-Moncrieff said: "When you have a profession where 72% of partners - the very top of the tree - are men, then something is going wrong. Women’s talents are woefully underused in the legal profession. It makes no economic or business sense, particularly when times are hard."

She continued, making the point that it is not just about gender equality - it is also about good business: "Research shows that companies that have a good gender balance consistently outperform those that do not. Figures from the Women’s Business Council estimates that fairer treatment for women in the workplace could add over £150 billion to GDP by 2030."