International Women’s Day on 8 March is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
In 2021 the Law Society will mark the year slightly differently to previous years, with a virtual event where they will be launching their joint Law Society and Bates Wells International Women in Law report “Practical Toolkit for Women in Law“. This webinar will highlight and disseminate the report’s key findings and recommendations.
This report reinforces the findings of the 2019 Law Society report ‘Advocating for Change: Transforming the Future of the Legal Profession through greater Gender Equality’, that there are still considerable challenges for women’s progression in the legal profession. This report suggests a series of activities that can be undertaken by individuals and organisations to continue striving for gender equality. One of the key findings is the importance of law societies and bar associations in taking robust leadership for accelerating transformative changes in this area within their own jurisdictions.
Written under extraordinary circumstances generated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the report addresses the unparalleled set of challenges currently being faced by woman around the world. The report also highlights that there has been greater flexibility and more agile working resulting from the ‘working from home’ policy, which has contributed to changing attitudes towards working from home that has been made feasible and manageable due to technology. But this has also led to an increase in home-based burdens. Therefore, it is important to establish boundaries between home and work, which have become more blurred; so, a careful approach is needed. Sexual harassment continues to be a stubborn scourge in many workplaces, but that most women avoid talking about this issue due to the stigma attached and for fear that they will not be believed or will suffer a backlash for speaking out.
Learning objectives
This webinar will offer an opportunity to learn about;
Findings of the joint Law Society / Bates & Wells report on support mechanisms for women lawyers around the world
Challenges faced by women lawyers internationally
Strategies for improving gender equality in the legal sector
Sharing tools and best practice
Male champions for change
Women leadership in law
This event is also:
An opportunity to learn more about the Law Society’s international women in law programme work and to find out how to get involved
An opportunity to learn about the role of lawyers in upholding gender equality from a panel of experts
A virtual networking opportunity
Programme
14:00 – 14:05 Welcome remarks David Greene, President, The Law Society
14:05 – 14:10 Pre-recorded video message from Commonwealth Secretariat Baroness Scotland to the legal community
14:10 – 14:25 Keynote speaker Gabriella Ramos, Assistant Director – General for Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO
14:25 – 14:30 Panel introduction Christoph Sicking, Chair of the Law Society International Committee & Assistant General Counsel, EBRD
14:30 – 15:00 Panel discussion Co-authors – Lizzette Robleto de Howarth and Melanie Carter Interviewee – Brooke Holden, Principal, Lipman Karas – Hong Kong Discussant – Amandeep Khasriya, Senior Associate, Moore Barlow / WLD-UK
15:00 – 15:25 Q&A session
15:25 – 15:30 Closing remarks Christoph Sicking, Chair of the Law Society International Committee & EBRD Senior Counsel
Women Mean Biz are passionate about supporting women in business from all walks of life, to be the best that they can be, find fulfilment, joy and financial freedom. This year Women Mean Biz is hosting their own IWD event, supported by lots of supporting partners including the Women Lawyers Division Bristol.
All women are invited to join this online event on 8th March 2021:
DATE: MONDAY 8TH MARCH TIME: 10am to 11.30am ONLINE via Zoom TICKETS: £10 inc vat (ticket sales will be donated to WMB’s chosen charity, SHE)
This 90 minute IWD event will bring together women in business across all sectors to celebrate International Women’s Day!
You will have the opportunity to hear from two inspirational speakers as well as contribute to discussions around the impact of, and solutions to, every-day sexism, gender-based violence, within a culture of misogyny and inequality. There will also be some networking too, using the break out rooms for people to connect and find out about each other, and what IWD means to each of you.
SPEAKERS
Mayda Mapondera – Founder of our charity for this event, SHE. We will hear about the amazing and important work that SHE are doing to give young orphaned girls in rural Zimbabwe a chance for an education, and hope for an independent future.
Sophie Turner – talking about “What skills do we need to Challenge effectively?” Sophie is the Founder of #YesSheCan, an organisation that helps women to break their career glass ceiling and works alongside progressive businesses to positively impact Diversity & Inclusion. Sophie is a qualified D&I professional who will be sharing her knowledge so you can learn what skills are needed to challenge effectively.
In this podcast from the Law Society Women Lawyers Division, they explore endometriosis, specifically offering advice to women throughout the profession on how to cope. The speakers also discuss suggestions to employers on how to better support women who suffer from endometriosis.
Legal Women is a UK quarterly publication for all UK women working in law. Promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, is a critical issue for all private practice and legal departments in UK industry and commerce. The magazine captures the initiatives of women working in law and gives practical steps and guidance to create real change.
Read the latest edition of Legal Women Magazine here.
Up to 87% (ONS) of parents in the UK are being asked to homeschool or manage childcare, as well as meeting work demands. The impact in terms of stress and wellbeing at the moment is visible – 1/4 women are considering quitting or downshifting their careers (McKinsey & Company) and some employers are missing the opportunity to support parents and avoid a costly loss of valuable team members.
This event aims to tell you exactly what you can be doing to support working parents now and in the future.
Zara Nanu at Gapsquare, Kristal McNamara, Gapsquare’s flexible working expert & Director of WorkWell Bristol and Ursula Tavender @flexpo & MUMBELIEVABLE LIMITED and Osborne Clarke’s Phillip Chivers will offer advice on creating a sustainable action plan to supporting parents in the workplace. They’ll be talking about:
The impact of lockdown and homeschooling on parents
Best practices to support working parents
How and why flexible working practices can help
Taking these learnings forward post-work from home
If you couldn’t make the live event you can watch the recording on YouTube. Saida Bello from Bristol Law Society discusses How to develop your equality, diversity and inclusion strategy.
Law firms face a new world order in which an authentic and meaningful commitment to diversity and inclusion is now expected, and our own people, clients, and increasingly our regulators, are often unwilling to settle for less.
Join Hays and leading firm, DAC Beachcroft, as we share insights, research and experience from Hays and experiences of how the extraordinary events of recent months have shone a light on a number of diversity and inclusion considerations, and the extent to which these have required and accelerated a review and change in approach to I&D by many law firms, including:
Flexible working and life-work integration
Wellbeing and a review of policies and practices
Black Lives Matter, social justice and the recruitment and progression of BAME talent
Bristol Law Society has a number of FREE webinars that are open to Women Lawyers Division members.
Upcoming Webinars include:
Decision of Supreme Court on Business Interruption Cover – 26 January – Supreme Court delivered its judgment on the FCA’s landmark test case on disputed UK business interruption from the Covid-19 pandemic
Apprenticeships in Legal Practice – 27 January – It’s been 3 years since the apprenticeship levy was introduced but how has the legal sector in the South West embraced apprentices
The Art of Deconstruction: The Critical Components for Getting it Right – 3 February – This workshop will focus on designing for the future & getting the best from your teams.
Meeting the needs of vulnerable clients – 10 February – This session will be aimed at practitioners helping you identify & meet the needs of clients who may have difficulties accessing services.
You can find the full list of webinars and registration information here.
