The first female president of the Supreme Court, Baroness Hale, a former member of the Northern Circuit, was the 2018 Women in The Law UK (WITLUK) guest speaker at the WITLUK annual dinner in Manchester, attended by 200 men and women from diverse backgrounds

Coinciding with 100 years since women got the right to vote and celebrating UN International Women’s Day, Baroness Hale spoke about the suffragettes and the difference they made, concluding by saying women can be anything they want to be. 

Next year’s dinner is already set for 14 March 2019 when it will be 100 years since women could practice law.

In the meantime WITLUK will be continuing with monthly professional development events which will have a special emphasis on wellbeing at the Bar. Sally Penni, founder of WITLUK, said: 'Our aim is to encourage professional development but also to encourage personal development and hence retention at the Bar, through collaboration not competition. Our male colleagues are welcome'.  Working with the CBA, they are also encouraging social mobility into the legal profession.