I remember that day in March 2020 very clearly. The day Boris Johnson announced we should all work from home with immediate effect. I was sitting with my colleagues in our office in Leeds and I think we all realised then that something strange and quite scary was unfolding outside although we couldn’t really articulate […]
Having a baby inevitably has a significant impact on your career as a woman, regardless of what stage in your career you are at, whether it’s your first, second or fifth child, whether you are emailing clients on the ward following delivery or not returning to work for another 12 months. Equally, Covid-19 has ushered in […]
Countless headlines this past year proclaimed that the pandemic has created a game changing acceptance of flexible working. What was previously a request commonly rejected as not being commercially viable, or, at best, accepted as a tolerated version of career plateau, is now being hailed as ‘the new normal’. Organisations in some sectors are making […]
100 years ago, the prevailing stereotype was that a woman’s place is in the home, and a man’s place is at work. There has been a tremendous amount of focus – and progress – since then addressing a woman’s right to work, and the conditions needed to make that successful – particularly if she has […]
In March last year, my husband and I (like many parents), were suddenly faced with the task of home-schooling our children – in our case twin boys, Ben and Tom, aged 9. Despite being identical twins, we had always noticed differences in the way in which each of our boys learned and we were already […]
“A sense of purpose” was the comment I heard most during the few months we were trying to design, get approved and manufacture new protective equipment for healthcare staff. It was the end of March 2020 and the virus had arrived in the UK along with harrowing images from Italy of scenes of hospital chaos, […]
The first time I visited the refugee camp on Samos island, I had a sense of what to expect, but never imagined how much it would impact me. Like many, my experience of life in a refugee camp was limited to the portrayal offered in news stories. However, speaking to these individuals face-to-face, hearing their […]
Part 1 of the survey results can be accessed here While it would be wrong to suggest that everyone’s career aspirations have shifted during the pandemic, it is clear that many people are re-thinking what is possible. Many parents mentioned that Covid has given them an epiphany and in the future they will value […]
The Lawyer’s Working Parents survey ran in February, and as we suspected it might, garnered a huge response from frustrated parents at the end of their tether during this pandemic. Part One deals with how parents are coping and organisations’ responses; part two focuses on career aspirations and prospects. We received more than 1,200 responses, […]
Although there are always work life balance challenges for any woman choosing a professional career, the simple truth is that no woman taking on a legal role can be left under any illusion about how tough their chosen profession is, particularly if they and their partner choose to have a family. Devoting yourself to a […]
The Covid-19 pandemic has received its fair share of bad press regarding its impact on working women. But are there any positives that will drive equality for women in the legal profession? The views of our female peers are mixed. Some hail the advent of increased remote-working and the ability to convert commuting time into […]
“I received over 10 pupillage rejections from chambers who explained to me that they had already taken on ‘one woman’ and that my application would therefore be declined.”