Remaking News of the Week: Women founders

We are regularly reminded of the same dismal facts about the lack of anything near gender equality in BigLaw firms the world over. Some ‘name’ firms still have fewer than 10% of women in their equity ranks and, to my knowledge, no large law firm has anywhere close to 50%.

The commonly cited reasons include subconscious gender bias and family-unfriendly policies and practices. Or perhaps as today’s Remaking News of the Week feature shows women are finding other ways: Women-Owned Law Firms Surge Amid Gender Disparity in the Profession was published on 9 October 2018 in The NewYork Law Journal.

Angela Morris begins her article “By founding their own firms, women are crafting new game rules that provide for fair compensation, equal promotions, full inclusion and better career development opportunities“. She cites a Jennifer Beckage as an example of women leaving medium and large firms and starting out on their own.

In Australia, I am pleased to recognise Claire Wivell Platter, Mitzi Gilligan and Marianne Marchesi as fine examples, among many, of this trend.

I look forward to comments on Dialogue and examples of other pioneers