Many formal barriers to
women entering the legal profession have become almost nonexistent.
Although the number of
women entering the legal profession has steadily increased over the years, more senior positions at larger law firms remain antiquated.
Since
women entered the legal profession there has been a steady erosion of women moving from private practice to in - house, government and other legal positions that offer a more supportive work environment.
Now, 15 years later, the Law Society of Upper Canada has released its report on retaining women in the profession and many of the same issues raised by Wilson are still present: a high proportion of
women enter the legal profession at the initial entry level (more than 50 per cent of lawyers called to the bar are female), and that there is a higher attrition rate for women than men from private practice.
It is not coincidence that a centuries - long history of dispute resolution through trial changed so rapidly once
women entered the legal profession in significant numbers.
Not exact matches
More
women are
entering the
legal profession than ever —
women now make up about half of all law students and 36 % of all licensed attorneys — but these ratios are not reflected at the highest levels of firm positions.
The recent Law Society of BC Report on the Retention of
Women in Law Task Force notes as follows: •
Women have been
entering the
legal profession in BC in numbers equal to or greater than men for more than a decade, yet represent only about 34 % of all practicing lawyers in the province and only about 29 % of lawyers in full - time private practice; and • the
legal profession in BC is aging and there will be a net reduction in the number of practicing lawyers — a looming shortage — as older lawyers retire without a corresponding increase in younger lawyers joining the
profession.
As mentioned above,
women have been
entering the
legal profession en masse since the mid-1970s.
[15]
Women are taught different curricula in Sharia schools, therefore, female graduates of Sharia school lack the skills required to
enter legal profession.
The recent Law Society of BC Report on the Retention of
Women in Law Task Force notes as follows: •
Women have been
entering the
legal profession in BC in numbers equal to or greater than men for more than a decade, yet represent only about 34 % of all practicing lawyers in the province and only about 29 % of lawyers in full - time private practice; and • the
legal profession in BC is aging and there will be a net reduction in the number of practicing lawyers — a looming shortage — as older lawyers retire... [more]
This week's theme is the leaky pipeline for
women in the
legal profession, which starts even before students
enter law school.
The rising number of
women graduating from law school and
entering the
legal profession is not enough to shift the balance.
As a
woman with plans to
enter both the
legal profession as well as motherhood, I would be looking for such an employer.