The Rt Hon Dame Heather Hallett was the keynote speaker at this year’s Women in Law Dinner, which was held at the Midland Hotel, in Manchester in May.

Dame Heather, who is the Vice President of the Court of Appeal, gave an inspiring speech covering, among other topics, mentoring and her route to the judiciary.

Organiser Sally Penni, a barrister at Kenworthys Chambers and Vice Chair of Association of Women Barristers (AWB), said: “The dinner offers young women starting out in their careers an excellent opportunity to talk to senior women and men across the profession. The evening is designed to encourage, inspire and support the next generation of lawyers.”

(L to R: Sally Penni (AWB), HHJ Roddy (UKAWJ), Lisa Roberts QC, Dame Heather Hallett, retired judge HHJ Eaglestone)

The annual event, which is a collaboration between the AWB, the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) Manchester, and the UK Association of Women Judges (UKAWJ) was well attended by male and female colleagues from across the legal profession and beyond.

Coming up: The UKAWJ annual conference on the 20 and 21 October 2016, to which AWS and AWB members are invited. The next Women in the Law event will take place in March 2017.

(L to R: HHJ Roddy,Dame Heather Hallett and Nigel Poole QC)