As the Law Society's latest statistical report shows, women now comprise more than half of all solicitors younger than the age of 40 and may one day exceed the 50% threshold in the profession as a whole (see [2005] Gazette, 30 June, 1).

However, as the report also makes clear there is no necessary correlation between numbers of female practitioners and those with partnership status.


There is still much historical prejudice among senior lawyers, who even today appear to move seamlessly from traineeship to the top of the profession within a rarefied masculine world of long hours and social activities that exclude female colleagues whose personal and family arrangements do not fit comfortably into virtually living at the office, the regular post-work departmental drink, or the best part of the weekend spent on the links.


Hence if the ambitious woman wants to get on, she may have to show great astuteness from the start of her career by close observation of her male counterparts to ensure that she is not left behind both in and out of the workplace. This will mean some careful planning on her part, particularly in relation to having a family, as taking six or more months' maternity leave could seriously affect her future prospects. Some may have to even decide not to follow the demands of their biological clock. Men can now take paternity leave but it is unlikely that the majority will do so if a lengthy period away from the office is likely to adversely affect their position in the pecking order.


Attitudes among those who currently occupy top positions may alter in time, but women keen on maximising their achievements in the legal marketplace cannot be expected to await the outcome of a process that is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Impatience among female lawyers may well be a virtue worth cultivating if real and lasting change is to be achieved in the foreseeable future.


Bill Jackson, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire