Women lawyers have substantially increased their presence and prominence in law firms worldwide, especially in the common-law jurisdictions of the Caribbean region.
This process is not finished. In observance of International Women's Day on 8 March 2019, at the Women in the Law Conference in Kingston, Jamaica, Lisa Walker Johnson and Norman Clark discussed with the audience the emergence of women in law firms and in the legal profession at large, as they have witnessed it first-hand worldwide over the past 20 years.
Although significant progress has been achieved in the acceptance of women as “full partners” in the profession, significant obstacles still remain.
Nonetheless, the dramatic changes in the legal services industry, which are already in motion and which will fundamentally change the way that lawyers and law firms work by 2030, should eliminate many of the barriers, with clear benefits for all lawyers, not just women. In fact, law firms that continue to defend traditional barricades such as organizational disadvantages and implicit cultural bias, probably will not survive another ten years.
Click here to view and download Women as Emerging Leaders of the Global Legal Profession: Today and Tomorrow.
Lisa Walker Johnson and Norman Clark
