Tue, 03 Mar 2020
No5 Barristers’ Chambers hosted “Women in Law: Past, Present and Future”, on behalf of Midland Circuit Women’s Forum, Birmingham Law Society and University of Birmingham, celebrating 100 years of women in the law.
The event attracted a cross section of barristers, solicitors, law students and academics.
Keynote speaker was Katie Broomfield, postgraduate researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London, co-author of “First 100 Years of Women in Law”, published by the First 100 Years Project, who shared insights into the process of researching and writing the book and her PhD. Katie also brought her exhibition “Celebrating the Centenary of Women Lawyers”, which tells the story of women including Bertha Cave and Gwyneth Bebb who paved the way for women to enter the legal profession, and regaled the audience with historical anecdotes including how past commentators had dismissed women as lawyers noting that they “lacked logic” and should stick to darning socks!
Rebecca Mander, Executive Coach also addressed delegates. Rebecca specialises in helping senior leadership during times of personal setback such as bereavement, illness or relationship breakdown. She spoke to the audience about imposter phenomenon – doubting one’s intellect in the face of evidence of one’s success – giving the audience a range of tools to use to effectively combat it.
Esther Gamble, Chair of Midland Circuit Women’s Forum and a member of No5 Barristers’ Chambers, hailed the event as a ‘fascinating and inspiring evening’, adding: “It was wonderful to bring together two such passionate speakers who both, in very different ways, promote the achievements of women in the law and help suggest solutions to some of the challenges still faced by women in the legal profession.
“The event was also a great networking opportunity for members of the local legal community and law schools.
“We were also very pleased to be able to support Birmingham Law Society’s initiative to raise funding for a copy of the charity Legal Action Group’s book “Equal to Everything: Judge Brenda and the Supreme Court” to be sent to every primary school in Birmingham.
“Hosting an inspiring event like this demonstrates the ongoing commitment of No5 to diversity and inclusion in the legal world.”
