Female lawyers’ club
Corporate Membership
Replacing one senior lawyer costs upwards of £500,000. Keeping her costs a fraction of that.
Corporate membership of Female Lawyers' Club gives your firm a practical, visible way to hold on to the senior women it has spent years developing.
The problem, in numbers
Women make up more than half of UK solicitors, and have entered the profession in greater numbers than men for over two decades. Yet they hold only 37% of partnership positions, and nearer 32% at equity level.
The losses happen at a predictable point. Law Society research shows that around a third of women solicitors leave the profession between five and ten years after qualifying, and most don't return. That's exactly the stage at which a lawyer starts to win her own work, hold her own client relationships and repay the years the firm has invested in her. A woman in private practice has a 13% chance of reaching partnership. For a man, the figure is 28%.
The bill never arrives as a single line in the accounts, which makes it easy to underestimate. BigHand's 2025 resourcing report, drawing on responses from more than 800 senior law firm leaders across the UK and North America, puts the cost of replacing one associate at upwards of £500,000 once recruitment fees, lost billable hours and disrupted client relationships are counted. Lawyer attrition now averages 27% firm-wide.
A useful exercise: count the senior women who have left your firm in the last three years, and put a number on each departure.
None of this is a criticism of any one firm. The pattern runs across the whole profession and the causes are structural. It also means that the firms that treat retaining senior women as a commercial priority, with a budget line and a plan behind it, will keep the talent other firms are losing.
Corporate membership is that plan.
Corporate membership for law firms
Supporting the progression and commercial success of female lawyers.
Female Lawyers’ Club partners with law firms that want to support the long-term success and retention of their female lawyers.
The Member Firm Programme gives female lawyers within your firm access to an external professional community focused on building commercially successful and sustainable legal careers.
Female Lawyers’ Club combines practical career strategy, peer support and expert-led learning focused on the realities of modern legal practice.
Founded by Rachel Spink, employment partner at gunnercooke with over 20 years’ experience advising organisations and senior professionals on workplace and leadership issues.
What your firm receives
A number of annual Female Lawyers’ Club memberships for female lawyers within the firm.
Access to roundtables and expert masterclasses on topics such as business development, leadership and commercial confidence, plus access to a growing library of recorded sessions and practical resources.
Full access to Rachel Spink’s flagship professional development course, The Successful Lawyer: a structured programme covering the core skills required for long-term success in the legal profession, including confidence, resilience, commercial ownership, financial mindset and professional networks. The course is designed to help lawyers accelerate the development of the commercial and personal capabilities that often take many years to acquire through experience alone.
A two-hour interactive workshop delivered by Rachel Spink for the firm’s female lawyers, along with permission to record the workshop and use it as part of the firm’s internal training and onboarding programme. Please note: the workshop is included in full membership packages. Bespoke and pilot arrangements may vary - please get in touch to discuss what's right for your firm.
Why firms partner with
Strengthen recruitment and retention
Support the commercial development of female lawyers
Strengthen the pipeline of future female partners and leaders
Provide access to a trusted external professional network
Demonstrate a visible commitment to supporting women in the profession
Offer a meaningful professional development benefit for female lawyers
About Female Lawyers’ Club
Female Lawyers’ Club is a professional community for women in the legal profession who want to build sustainable, commercially successful careers.
The community focuses on the commercial and leadership skills that underpin successful legal practices, including business development, client relationships, leadership and billing confidence.
Most members are experienced practitioners and senior lawyers, creating a trusted environment where women can exchange insights and strategies with peers who understand the commercial realities of legal practice.
About Rachel Spink
Rachel Spink is an employment partner at gunnercooke and the founder of Female Lawyers’ Club.
She has over 20 years’ experience advising organisations and senior professionals on workplace and leadership issues.
Rachel also writes and speaks on leadership and the progression of women in law, including contributing a published book chapter exploring leadership norms within the legal profession and how firms can better support the development of female lawyers.
Who the Member Firm Programme is designed for
The Female Lawyers’ Club Member Firm Programme is particularly suited to law firms that:
want to support the progression and commercial success of their female lawyers
are keen to strengthen their pipeline of future female partners and leaders
recognise that some career and leadership conversations are often easier to have in an external peer environment
want to provide their female lawyers with access to a trusted professional network across the legal profession
are looking for practical ways to strengthen recruitment, retention and long-term career development
The programme works particularly well for firms with cohorts of senior associates, legal directors and junior partners who are developing their commercial practices and leadership presence.
Enquire about corporate membership
If your firm would like to explore whether Female Lawyers’ Club could support the development of your female lawyers, please get in touch.
What firms say about working with Rachel
Feedback from the leadership session Rachel delivered for Capsticks LLP:
"The best conversation on leadership we've had at Capsticks."
Martin Hamilton, then Managing Partner, Capsticks LLP
"Rachel Spink is an exceptional speaker, facilitator and storyteller, with a deep and nuanced understanding of gender and leadership in the workplace. Everything about the session was finely judged, from the content and pace to the level of interaction, and above all her warm, engaging and authentic style. I would wholeheartedly recommend Rachel to any organisation looking to deepen understanding of gender, leadership and inclusion in a way that is credible, authentic and emotionally astute."