The Bar of Ireland considering a range of measures to support women at the Bar

April 21, 2016 : The Bar of Ireland is set to introduce a range of measures to better support women at the Bar.

A survey conducted by The Bar of Ireland in February and published in this week’s The Bar Review reveals a number of areas of concern as outlined by female practitioners.

In response to the attrition rate of female members and the low number of women progressing to senior counsel (currently only 16% of 329 senior counsel are women), a Working Group on Supporting Women at the Bar chaired by Grainne Larkin BL was established by The Bar of Ireland in December 2015. In partnership with the Working Group, the survey published this week is one of the first steps by The Bar of Ireland to identify the areas of support requiring further development.

Access to work; Childcare, family responsibilities and maternity leave; Working environment and culture; and Stability and structure as amongst the main issues of concern identified by female members.

Respondents also reported feeling that some areas of the law are ‘less available’ to females, such as commercial (21%), criminal defence (32%) and chancery (30%) which are typically male dominated. Areas such as general practice (68%), personal injury (65%) and family law (42%) are considered to be more ‘female’ areas.   Some 62% said they has experienced direct or indirect discrimination during their career,

A number of measures to better support female members have already been initiated, including a pilot mentoring scheme which is being operated in partnership with the Law Society.  The programme has 11 participants and will be evaluated at the end of the year and expanded if successful. Establishing a forum for open and honest discussion, whereby women have the opportunity to hear and learn from the experiences of their female colleagues, particularly their more senior colleagues is an initial step forward to addressing some of the issues and challenges affecting female barristers.

Measures to support working mothers are under discussion and other targeted initiatives such as the introduction of CPD seminars on the development of ‘soft skills’ and business skills are also being considered.   

The survey results are currently being considered by The Bar of Ireland.  David Barniville SC, Chairman, Council of The Bar of Ireland said; “We are encouraged by the fact that membership of women pursuing careers at the Bar has been steadily increasing in recent years, and that female counsel currently represents 39% of the total Law Library membership. However, as in many professions, it is clear that more needs to be done to provide equal opportunities at all levels for female members of the Bar”.

Chair of the Working Group Grainne Larkin BL added; “It is notable also that 64% felt positive about their future at the Bar and in particular about being in practice in the independent referral Bar. Through the Working Group, and with the results of this survey, we will work with members to provide initiatives to better support female members.”

Of a total of  863 female Law Library members, 772 who had registered email addresses with The Bar of Ireland were surveyed. 436 responded to the survey ( a 56% response rate), of which 94% were junior counsel and 6% senior counsel.