Women and law, eh? Same old, same old! Loads enter the profession but most fall off the career track of large City law firms by the time it comes to handing out partnership. By most estimates, more than half of the lawyers entering the profession are women, but a commercial law firm that manages to have a 20% female partnership is reckoned to be doing pretty well – over 40% and your managing partner becomes an automatic pundit on female empowerment.
Many would privately say that it’s a problem rendered unsolvable by the conflict of biology and the brutal realities of City life. Well, one firm at least is having a renewed crack at addressing the issue, as we report today. Specifically, Allen & Overy (A&O) has expanded its range of flexible working options with the aim of tackling the conflict between the tournament of partnership and the family aspirations of lawyers in their thirties.
