On behalf of the state’s solicitors, I would like congratulate Belinda Rigg SC on her appointment as Senior Public Defender for NSW. Ms Rigg is the first woman to be appointed to the role and will replace Justice Mark Ierace, who has joined the bench of the NSW Supreme Court. The announcement of Ms Rigg’s new role came in the same week that we marked a significant moment in the history of the Australian legal profession.

Data contained in the latest National Profile of Solicitors Report shows that, for the first time, women solicitors outnumber men in all states and territories, except one. The exception is Western Australia where the gender split is 50-50.

Nationally, women now make up 52 per cent of solicitors, compared to 46 per cent in 2011.This shift in the gender balance reflects the greater number of women solicitors entering the legal profession compared to men between 2011 and 2018.

As I wrote in an Opinion Editorial in The Australian last Friday 31 May 2019, the challenge for the legal profession is to ensure that the culture of our workplaces is reflective of this recent gender shift and that we continue to work collaboratively to address historical imbalances and make a profession which celebrates diversity and actively fosters inclusion. 

Combating these challenges is the driving motivation of the Law Society of NSW’s Charter for the Advancement of Women. Launched in 2016, the Charter exists to promote and support strategies to retain women in the legal profession over the course of their careers and encourage and promote their career progression into senior executive and management positions. It now has 167 signatories covering a broad range of practices and organisations in the NSW legal profession. Every time a firm or individual solicitor signs this Charter, they declare a substantive and measurable commitment to the advancement of women in the legal profession. More information is available on our website as well as resources relating to women’s mentoring, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, our equitable briefing policy and flexible work practices.

On another subject, last Friday I had the privilege of meeting with solicitors based in Dubbo and surrounding regions for the final event of our Regional Roadshow Series on the Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession (FLIP). It followed similar events in Newcastle, Wollongong and the Far North Coast, attended by 300 solicitors in total. It’s been wonderful to see solicitors so engaged and thirsty for information about the challenges and opportunities that come with the innovation and technology sweeping our legal profession. Our next major initiative is the FLIP Conference and Innovation Dinner in Sydney on 25 July 2019 featuring keynote speaker Mitch Kowalski.

Elizabeth Espinosa, Law Society President

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