Following the 2018 Women in the Law Survey and the recent gender pay gap reporting, on 21 June Leeds Law Society held a drop in session to obtain views and encourage dialogue in relation to issues facing the profession. The event was held with a view to setting up a women in law forum through the Society to focus on issues and identify how we can support members and create a positive change.
One interesting point that came out of the session in respect of gender pay gap reporting is the issue of how transparent the reporting actually is. Like for like is not being compared and therefore the figures do not necessarily truly represent the pay gap of the opposite genders employed in an identical role. The consistent message from the feedback seemed to be that we should be challenging the status quo and involving men in discussions with a focus on senior leadership, retention in private practice and ‘flexible’ working.
Thank you to all who came and shared their views with us. Also a thank you to Squire Patton Boggs for providing us with the venue to hold discussions (along with great cookies!). We will shortly be considering the feedback in detail with a view to organising a follow up event. Details of future events will be shared with members by email.