Meeting the Beyoncé of the Legal World
“Stand up straight and realise who you are, that you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up straight.”
I meant to write an inspiring email today about International Women’s Day. Then I got waylaid with a ton of legal work. Plus preparing for my son’s annual special needs review meeting next week. Plus getting Lydia ready for World Book Day. Plus buying lots of children’s birthday presents (why are there so many birthdays in March?).
Then I ended up at the Women in the Law annual dinner last night in Manchester. If any of you were there, it was my bedtime alarm that accidentally went off during Lady Hale’s speech - sorry about that…yes, I was that annoying person. And yes, I do need an alarm to tell me to go to bed).
Anyway, Lady Hale said that at one point during her surprisingly risqué speech involving much talk of penises (not even kidding) that, at one point, there were more men called David who went to Cambridge than women on the Supreme Court. Ha!
Currently, there are two women and eight men, so we still have some way to go. But still, progress. As Lady Hale (the former president of the Supreme Court herself) pointed out, we now have a Lady Chief Justice, Sue Carr. Yes, the most senior judge in England and Wales is a woman. Not called David but she did go to Cambridge. Being the first woman to head up the judiciary since the inception of the role in the 13th century is no small feat.
Also - doesn’t the fact that I can work mainly from home as a solicitor whilst being able to do all these other things show how far we’ve come? I no longer have to choose.
To paraphrase Newton, if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Not literally; Lady Brenda Hale is about 5’3. But what a legend!
Happy International Women’s Day.
~Rachel