Role models tackle the issuesTwo forthcoming conferences are set to cause lively debate within the legal profession.First will come the grandly-titled World Women Lawyers Conference (see feature, page 36).

The event will undoubtedly trigger protests from those who maintain that such a conference is an example of reverse discrimination.The sceptics should give this conference the benefit of the doubt, for it is truly international in its aims of addressing lawyers in the developing world, as well as those in the developed world, and drawing attention to positive role models.There will, of course, be an emphasis on problems relating specifically to women, but many of the issues are of interest regardless of gender.

Men in the profession must recognise that there are several areas in which women are still battling uphill, such as career breaks and pay, and they are still being pushed into areas of practice seen as suitable for them, such as family law.The second high-profile conference is one jointly organised by the Solicitors Pro Bono Group and the Bar's Pro Bono Unit.

In a world of shrinking legal aid entitlement, access to justice is an ever-pressing issue for the least well-off members of society.And as corporate lawyers find themselves increasingly drawn into their clients' efforts at social responsibility, such as those involved with Ford Credit, one thing is for sure: it won't go away.