Rees: We need a cultural change
Women are leaving law firms at senior associate level, feeling “they are the only one struggling because they are not talking to each other”, a coach, mentor and former solicitor has said.
Speaking ahead of yesterday’s International Women’s Day, Mandy Rees, who launched the network Next Generation Women in Law at the end of last year, said there had been progress in improving the legal workplace for women “but not the right progress”.
Ms Rees, who worked as a solicitor in the real estate department of Eversheds Sutherland in Birmingham, said the aim of the network was to bring “women together at all levels in a space where they are not talking about winning business, or understanding a new law or regulation”.
She said the challenges for women lawyers included how to change habits, such as “trying to please people all the time and not questioning things, coupled with a tendency to over-offer and over-deliver, which can lead to burn-out”.
A further challenge was juggling the roles of lawyer and mother. Ms Rees said she understood the challenges “from the inside”, having experienced burn-out as a trainee and post-natal depression.
When the juggling became “impossible”, she left the law and retrained as a yoga teacher, specialising in pregnancy and post-natal work.
Ms Rees said progress has been made in the workplace on things like compassionate leave and flexible working, but it “has not stopped women feeling that they can’t cope”.
She went on: “Some law firms are better than others. Some are telling themselves that they are looking after staff but not listening to what they say.
“What a woman looks like and says may not be what a woman is and needs. Unless we talk to each other in a different way, we won’t make progress. It’s not sustainable. We need a cultural change.”
Ms Rees said Next Generation Women in Law had held two breakfast meetings in Birmingham, attracting lawyers from the city and from towns like Stratford, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
She charged £25 for the 8.30am to 10.30am sessions and any profits went to charity. All levels of solicitor attended, from partners to trainees, along with HR staff from law firms.
Her aim was to continue the sessions in Birmingham, expanding them to a half or full day, with workshops, so they were “almost a conference”. After that she would consider expanding the network to other cities.
Ms Rees said the networking events were held under the Chatham House rules so “the gist of a discussion” could be shared but nobody was named.
She described on LinkedIn how one woman at a network event said she was still experiencing impostor syndrome and “did not feel she was any good at what she did”.
However, a colleague at the same firm told her that “you’re a brilliant lawyer and a role model” and said she was surprised how the lawyer saw herself.
Ms Rees said women lawyers often wore a “mask of invincibility” in order to be seen as successful.
“Back in the 1990s, I worked with female executives who were fearsome on the office floor, but cried behind closed doors. All that toughness was a reputation they had.
“The fact we are still seeing this today, thousands of women across the profession acting up to an image which is killing them, is sad and avoidable.”
She added: “Women do not need to toughen up. They need environments where they can be ambitious without feeling under threat, and competent without burning out.”
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