Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
About the authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Chapter 1: Authenticity and identity in law: building inclusive legal workplaces through intersectionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
By Brie Stevens-Hoare KC, barrister, Gatehouse Chambers
Intersectionality: shared struggles or diverse realities? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Understanding inclusion and intersectionality through diverse lived experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Understanding barriers for women in law: an intersectional perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The risks of intersectionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Applying intersectionality: tools and requirements for inclusive practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2: Who made the rules? Dismantling gendered leadership in law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
By Rachel Spink, founder, Female Lawyers' Club
Where are the women? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The gendered lens of leadership: what the research shows . . . . . . . . . . 17
The consequences: how gendered leadership norms play out in law firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The shift: a new model of leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Redefining leadership on our own terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
What needs to change: shifting cultures, systems, and self-perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Discovering your unique leadership strengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The opportunity: redefining leadership; reclaiming ourselves . . . . . . 36
Chapter 3: Technology, gender, and justice: AI's role in women's advancement in the legal profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
By Priya Lele, chair and cofounder of She Breaks the Law, and Shilpa Bhandarkar, legal innovation and artificial intelligence consultant
The significance of the AI gender gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Explaining the gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The path forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Chapter 4: Beyond work-life balance: structural constraints and women lawyers' progression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
By Claire Rason, executive director, Client Talk
What is stalling women's success? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Corporate practice: a case study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Unconscious bias at play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Changing workplace culture: a new approach to achieve gender equality in leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Looking to the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter 5: Rethinking pathways to partnership: advancing equity in a changing profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
By Rachel Khiara, partner, HCR Law
The traditional partner track: a system in need of overhaul . . . . . . . . . 70
Respectability politics: the invisible barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Post-pandemic working practices and gender equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
The role of clients and firm size: harnessing external and internal pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Making value visible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Lessons learned and the call to action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Conclusions: building the new partnership model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 6: Beyond the buzzwords: practical pathways to racial equity and representation in the legal profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
By Hilda Kwoffie, founder and mentor, The BAME Woman in Law
Mentorship and sponsorship: a crucial distinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Networking and representation: the gatekeepers of opportunity . . . . 82
Tokenism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Deconstructing structural barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Intersectionality: when identities intersect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The power of collective voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Looking ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Chapter 7: Beyond barriers: promoting gender and class inclusion in legal education and practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
By Yanthé Richardson, president (2024-2025) and non-executive director, Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, and partner at Foot Anstey LLP
The current state of socioeconomic diversity in law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Understanding intersectionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Systemic barriers to inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
What the system can (and must) do: actionable solutions . . . . . . . . . . . 96
What success looks like . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Chapter 8: Breaking the mold: how neurodiverse women redefine legal excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
By Pam Loch, chief executive officer and founder, Loch Associates Group
An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Conceptualizing neurodiversity: clinical and policy frameworks . . . . 105
The prevalence of neurodivergent conditions among women in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
The legal framework: employer duties and carers'rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Intersectionality: neurodiversity, gender, and legal culture . . . . . . . . . . 109
Fostering neuroinclusivity throughout the employment lifecycle . . 109
Empowering neurodivergent employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Coping strategies for core legal work contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Chapter 9: The leap to law: embracing experience and non-linear careers in the legal profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
By Melanie Arens, founder, Later on Lawyers
Stage 1: The academic qualification process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Stage 2: The elusive breakthrough role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Summary and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Chapter 10: Structuring inclusion: how women general counsel are shaping DEI through governance and procurement . . . . . 135
By Sarah Clark, chief revenue officer, The Legal Director
From performance to practice: why DEI must shape how power works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Designing for dissent: how governance enables DEI under stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
General counsel as strategic buyers: shaping the legal supply chain . . 141
Box 1: Internal behaviors to operationalize DEI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Box 2: External behaviors to operationalize DEI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Chapter 11: Your own potential, your own terms: crafting your career through consultancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
By Rachel Brushfield, founder, EnergiseLegal
The consultant lawyer market: market size and trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Private practice, women, and seniority: the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Consultancy: the way forward for women lawyers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Insights from women consultant lawyers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
The drawbacks of being a consultant lawyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
The importance of building your career capital, personal branding, and client following . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Building a portfolio career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Chapter 12: Your voice, your power: strategic amplification for women in law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
By Joanne Brook, consultant lawyer, and Belinda Lester, managing director at Lionshead Law
All about you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Practice (verb): To carry out or perform a particular activity, method, or custom habitually or regularly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Amplify (noun): To increase size or effect of something or add detail or information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
What do we mean by AMPing up? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
AI and you: artificial intelligence's role in amplification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Amp (verb): To increase the level or amount of (something) sharply; to make (someone) feel excited and full of energy . . . . . . . . 175
Final words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
About Globe Law and Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179