We ask three of DLA Piper’s female M&A stars some of the most pressing questions currently facing women in the sector. Partners Tracey Renshaw, Laura Marcelli, and Victoria Rhodes answer below
In your opinion, what specific factors contribute to the under-representation of senior women in M&A, and what steps can be taken to address this imbalance? Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Addressing the gender imbalance”
Michal Berkner is one of the most distinguished M&A lawyers in Europe, advising on some of the region’s most complex and strategic cross-border transactions in life sciences and tech. She joined Cooley’s London office in 2018 from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where she had practised in M&A for more than 20 years.
Michal’s clients include strategic buyers and sellers and investors in public and private companies ranging in value from multiple millions to billions of dollars. Continue reading “Sponsored Q&A: Michal Berkner, senior M&A partner at Cooley in London”
As we go to press on Legal Business’ third annual ESG report, the data points gathered on firms’ ethnicity and gender diversity make for disheartening reading, not least because they are entirely predictable in their lack of substantive progress from last year.
In truth, the continued lack of engagement on diversity data as part of our ESG survey among many of the top 25 Legal Business 100 and top 25 Global London firms is wearing a little thin now. Continue reading “Big Law’s diversity stats remain uninspiring – time to revisit the problem of social mobility”
It’s fair to say that legal directories have come in for more than their fair share of flack over the years, particularly when it comes to speed of change. But if proof were needed that The Legal 500 is more than capable of setting the pace, then the latest UK gender diversity stats neatly provide it.
When I joined The Legal 500 three years ago, only 5% of leading individuals ranked for premium M&A in London were women. Today, that figure stands at more than 31%. And, crucially, this progress has been replicated across the wider guide, both in London and the rest of the UK. Continue reading “L500 UK: Gender diversity hits new high – time to focus on the elephant in the room”
‘There’s finally a new wave of senior leadership and it’s in the form of smart women. Whatever the reason, I think it’s great that we have a number across the City right now.’
Natasha Harrison, deputy chair and managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner
‘I don’t like the gender divide. Everyone should be treated equally. There are a lot of good male leaders out there too. It would really piss me off if I thought I was only appointed because I’m a woman.’
Female London law firm leader Continue reading “Women leaders: Women of the revolution”
Legal 500 editors Georgina Stanley and Ben Wheway take an in-depth look at gender diversity in the latest Legal 500 London rankings
‘Institutional male dominance is hard to shift – it isn’t enough to want to change; sometimes these things are structural,’ says Travers Smith disputes partner Caroline Edwards (pictured) of the difficulties women lawyers can face trying to build their profile in the legal market and the directories that reflect it, including The Legal 500. Continue reading “The Legal 500 View: The gender agenda: the rankings and firms making progress on diversity”
Clydes, HSF, Freshfields and White & Case arbitration partners among new QCs
A record 22 applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds have been elevated to Queen’s Counsel (QC) in the latest round from a total 114 taking silk. But while the overall number of new silks is up 6% from 108 last year, the number of female applicants fell slightly. Continue reading “Record year for ethnic minorities in latest silk round but number of female applicants falls”
Wherever you look, there are women filling legal roles that had previously appeared closed to them in Scotland: Lorna Jack has been chief executive of the Law Society since 2009; Lady Dorrian has been Lord Justice Clerk – the country’s second-most senior judge – since 2016; and Angela Grahame QC has been vice-dean of the Faculty of Advocates for three years, the second woman to hold the role but the first to have been competitively elected to it.
At the same time, practically all the big independent firms are now either led or co-led by a woman, many for the first time in their history. At Brodies, chair Christine O’Neill works alongside managing partner Nick Scott; Burness Paull is co-led by managing partner Tamar Tammes and chair Peter Lawson; while Morton Fraser chair Maggie Moodie manages the firm along with chief executive Chris Harte. Continue reading “Scotland: Art of the possible”
The second season of gender pay gap reporting has again laid bare the stark disparities between men and women throughout the legal sector. However, with only two rounds of reporting to look at so far, the trajectory of pay equality in legal is still difficult to ascertain. Instead, conversations have turned to the value of reporting gender pay in of itself, particularly given the lack of common methodology in gauging the numbers.
These concerns are not new to the latest reporting round. In March 2018 Pinsent Masons senior partner Richard Foley (pictured) criticised the current regime’s lack of consistency in reporting benchmarks. The Law Society later in November 2018 called for uniformity in gender reporting, publishing guidelines on how firms could provide more clarity on the issue. Recommendations included firms distinguishing between equity and non-equity partners, publishing a full-time equivalent (FTE) compensation gap based on the full financial year and reporting on partner bonus schemes. Continue reading “Mind the gap(s) – more of the same old inequality and fudged statistics prevalent in Big Law”
A group of 65 general counsel (GCs) spanning major companies from the UK and Europe has collectively signed a letter urging law firms to improve their diversity efforts.
Among those to have lent their support to the statement are Shell GC Donny Ching, Vodafone group GC Rosemary Martin (pictured), Unilever’s chief legal officer Ritva Sotamaa, Anglo American group GC Richard Price and BHP Billiton group GC Caroline Cox. Continue reading “In-house leaders sign letter urging law firms to ramp up diversity efforts”
