Legal Sector
The legal sector old boys' club prevails even in a field with plenty of female graduates
With women awarded more than half of all law degrees – as they’ve done for decades, this sector doesn't initially appear male-dominated.
No problems here then?
That is until you notice how few women make Partner, let alone Equity Partner, and finally leave for other in-house roles.
It is particularly striking when the ‘traditional’ firm’s clients are often the very same women they didn’t deem ‘good enough’ to be made Partner at their own firm.
This is something any forward-thinking legal organisation needs to address.
In addition to outdated attitudes, women in legal and people from underrepresented backgrounds contend with legacy issues in this sector.
Benefits of Coaching and Mentoring
Many in the field ‘inherited’ contacts and advantages their ‘legal eagle’ or well-connected parents gifted to them – tough for a sector that seemingly wants the best talent from all walks of life.
Plus, as firms merge, competition for talent intensifies. This is the landscape my clients, and by default I’ve worked, within for years.
This lack of progression can be hugely demoralising. My clients joined the sector for the love of justice and to make a difference.
However, there are ways around these challenges
There are ways to thrive in fields that were never set up with the 21st century mindset we’ll all need.
These are tactics I’ve coached on and discussed with audiences for nearly 20 years in organisations like those below:
What people are saying
Testimonials from the legal sector
‘Extremely watchable’
Suzanne was insightful and captivating for our audience. She’s inspired our people to be more vocal, and her extremely ‘watchable’ style went down very well with our hundreds of global employees who either attended or watched the video later. She’s certainly welcome back!’ – Bernadette Gooding, Legal Counsel, Vodafone
Demonstrating both competence and confidence
I heard Suzanne speak at a Future of Work MeetUp. I knew that her messages on building confidence through focusing on competence would resonate well with my colleagues. Her style is engaging and she practices what she preaches, demonstrating both competence and confidence in her work. Her session was well received in our firm.
The keynote and was highly rated
Suzanne was the keynote at our launch of our sector wide research and was highly rated by all our delegates, including law firm owners and public sectors lawyers’.
Our time together was transformational
Our time together was transformational and I recommend her to other professional women looking to get ahead
Working with Suzanne was a total delight
Working with Suzanne was a total delight – when I stepped up into a broader role she encouraged me to examine and improve the areas I might not always have wanted to put the spotlight on, whilst giving me the tools to maintain the things that were already going well. The result was that our… Read more “Working with Suzanne was a total delight”
Thanks so much – very powerful!
Working with Dr SDM was a pleasure – extremely professional and her message very thought-provoking. Our IWD event was a huge hit with both our internal audience and global clients who said: ‘Thanks so much – very powerful!’
Entertaining, fascinating insights, practical tips and advice
Suzanne is one of my favourite presenters, not only is she entertaining and forthright, she also has fascinating insights and provides practical tips and advice which can be put to immediate benefit. A pleasure to have at events.
