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Almost two-thirds of those who left the Bar on the Western Circuit over the last six years were women, a survey revealed.
The study, by the Western Circuit Women’s Forum, revealed that since 2012, 45 barristers had taken breaks from work and 47 had quit the Bar. While almost all of the men who left became judges or retired, the vast majority of women were forced to leave midcareer due to the difficulty of balancing their work and family commitments.
The survey for the Back to the Bar report found that a significant proportion of women who left the Bar could have been retained with changes to working patterns and culture.
While many women on the Western Circuit have taken parental leave and successfully returned to work, the report said that 60% had found it difficult to return to work. Male barristers rarely took parental leave for any significant period, and none had reported taking parental leave for six weeks or more.
To improve the situation, the report recommended highlighting examples of good practice in supporting women returning to work, developing ‘back-to-work’ programmes for women returners and setting out best practice for chambers to stay in touch with tenants who take leave, and structure their return to work.
It suggested flexible rent provisions for those taking longer breaks from practice; raising awareness among regulatory bodies, the wider profession and the judiciary of the challenges faced by women at the Bar; and greater understanding of the reasonable adjustments that could be made to court listing procedures to accommodate the needs of those with care responsibilities and enable greater predictability in working patterns.
Training clerks to increase their understanding and appreciation of difficulties facing working parents, and improving networking opportunities and mentoring programmes would also help, it said.
Almost two-thirds of those who left the Bar on the Western Circuit over the last six years were women, a survey revealed.
The study, by the Western Circuit Women’s Forum, revealed that since 2012, 45 barristers had taken breaks from work and 47 had quit the Bar. While almost all of the men who left became judges or retired, the vast majority of women were forced to leave midcareer due to the difficulty of balancing their work and family commitments.
The survey for the Back to the Bar report found that a significant proportion of women who left the Bar could have been retained with changes to working patterns and culture.
While many women on the Western Circuit have taken parental leave and successfully returned to work, the report said that 60% had found it difficult to return to work. Male barristers rarely took parental leave for any significant period, and none had reported taking parental leave for six weeks or more.
To improve the situation, the report recommended highlighting examples of good practice in supporting women returning to work, developing ‘back-to-work’ programmes for women returners and setting out best practice for chambers to stay in touch with tenants who take leave, and structure their return to work.
It suggested flexible rent provisions for those taking longer breaks from practice; raising awareness among regulatory bodies, the wider profession and the judiciary of the challenges faced by women at the Bar; and greater understanding of the reasonable adjustments that could be made to court listing procedures to accommodate the needs of those with care responsibilities and enable greater predictability in working patterns.
Training clerks to increase their understanding and appreciation of difficulties facing working parents, and improving networking opportunities and mentoring programmes would also help, it said.
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group
Modernising communication and collaboration at a leading Chancery set. A Zexi case study
How to build profile without compromising professional duties. By Naumaan Farooq, Co-Founder of Inked PR
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the role of cut-off levels, and the wider range of factors that must be considered when interpreting results for family court proceedings
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution
The case against judge-only justice – and why efficiency is not enough. By Professor Leslie Thomas KC
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Seeing the full picture – Baljit Ubhey OBE outlines the CPS action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, offering insights directly relevant to courtroom practice
Lauren Fullerton examines the how, what and why of setting up a second chambers base
