Women in law in the United Kingdom

Prior to the 20th Century, there were few women in law in the United Kingdom. Prior to the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, women were not permitted to practice law in the United Kingdom.[1] By 1931 there were around 100 female solicitors.[1] The first female-only law partnership was founded in 1933.[2] By 2019 51% of British solicitors were women.[2]

Helena Normanton circa 1950

Background
Eliza Orme circa 1900

Eliza Orme was the first woman in the United Kingdom to obtain a law degree, in 1888.[3] In 1892 Cornelia Sorabji became the first woman to study law at Oxford University.[4]

Barristers

The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 received Royal Assent on 23 December 1919.[2] The next day Helena Normanton became the first woman to join an Inns of Court.[5]

In 1903 Bertha Cave applied to join Gray's Inn; the application was ultimately rejected.[6]

In 1913 the Law Society refused to allow women to take legal exams; this was challenged in the Court of Appeal in the case of Bebb v The Law Society, where the Law Society's stance was upheld.[1] The plaintiff in that case was Gwyneth Bebb, who was expected to be the first female to be called to the bar but died before that could happen.[7][8]

In 1922 Ivy Williams was the first woman called to the bar (although she never practiced),[9] and Helena Normanton became the first practising female barrister in the UK.[10] In September 2018 a barristers' chambers was renamed in her honour.[11] Williams was also the first woman to teach law at an English university,[9] whilst Normanton, along with Rose Heilbron, were the first two female barristers to be appointed Kings Counsel, in 1949.[12] Heibron was also the first woman to achieve a first class honours degree in law at the University of Liverpool (in 1935), England's first woman judge as Recorder of Burnley (in 1956), the first woman to sit as a judge in the Old Bailey (in 1972), the second female High Court judge (in 1974), and the first woman Presiding Judge of any Circuit when she became Presiding Judge on the Northern Circuit (in 1978).[12]

Elizabeth Lane became the first female County Court judge, and the first English High Court judge.[13]

In 2002 the Law Society appointed its first female President, Carolyn Kirby.[2]

In 2017 Baroness Hale became the first female president of the Supreme Court.[14]

Solicitors

In 1922 Carrie Morrison, Mary Pickup, Mary Sykes, and Maud Crofts became the first women in England to qualify as solicitors; Morrison was the first of them admitted as a solicitor.[1]

In 2010, a report by The Lawyer found that 22 per cent of partners at the UK’s top 100 firms were women; a follow-up report in 2015 found that figure had not changed.[15]

Since 2014, a number of large corporate firms of solicitors have set gender diversity targets to increase the percentage of women within their partnerships.[16][17][18]

Key Women in UK Law

Scotland

See also

References
  1. "BBC News | UK | 75 years of women solicitors". news.bbc.co.uk.
  2. Reyes, Eduardo (December 2019). "A great many she bears". Law Gazette.
  3. "Eliza Orme". First 100 Years. 7 August 2015.
  4. Dipankar De Sarkar (25 May 2012). "UK honours Cornelia Sorabji". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  5. Harrison QC, Sally. "How far has the sector come since the first female lawyer?". Law Gazette.
  6. November 2019, Dr Judith Bourne25. "How Bertha Cave fought law's male exclusivity". Law Gazette.
  7. Auchmuty, Rosemary (10 June 2011). "The tragic case of the legal star history forgot". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. "A woman is not a "person": A review of Bebb v The Law Society 1914". First 100 Years. 1 March 2018.
  9. Hallett, Heather (10 February 2011). "My legal hero: Dr Ivy Williams | Heather Hallett". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  10. Workman, Joanne (2004). "Normanton, Helena Florence (1882–1957), barrister and feminist campaigner | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". www.oxforddnb.com. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39091.
  11. "Normanton Chambers to become first at Bar to be named after a woman". 26 September 2018.
  12. Shennan, Paddy (26 October 2012). "Hilary Heilbron on writing the life story of her mother – the late Liverpool legal pioneer Dame Rose Heilbron". liverpoolecho.
  13. Butler-Sloss, Elizabeth (2004). "Lane [née Coulborn], Dame Elizabeth Kathleen (1905–1988), judge | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". www.oxforddnb.com. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40092.
  14. Bowcott, Owen (2 October 2017). "Brenda Hale sworn in as first female president of UK's supreme court". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  15. Simmons, Richard (17 November 2015). "Diversity fail: proportion of women partners at top UK firms hasn't increased at all in five years". The Lawyer – via www.thelawyer.com.
  16. Beioley, Kate (3 March 2014). "Pinsent Masons targets 25 per cent female partnership by 2018". The Lawyer – via www.thelawyer.com.
  17. Dowell, Katy (9 June 2014). "Linklaters becomes first magic circle firm to set gender diversity targets". The Lawyer – via www.thelawyer.com.
  18. "Taylor Wessing launches emergency gender targets as female partner numbers drop". The Lawyer. 8 August 2017 – via www.thelawyer.com.
  19. "Advocates elect first female vice dean in Faculty's 500 years". Law Society of Scotland. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  20. "The Hon Lady Wolffe (Sarah Wolffe QC) - Judicial Office Holders - About the Judiciary - Judiciary of Scotland". www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  21. "Lorna Jack at the Law Society of Scotland". Law Society of Scotland. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
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