Guest speaker Marika McMahon said at a Victorian Women Lawyers networking event in Bendigo on Friday there were two key challenges for women practicing law in regional areas: achieving a work-life balance, and gender equality.
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“How boysy it seems to be is a real concern,” she said.
The O’Farrell Robertson McMahon Lawyers director was worried there was a resurgence in the idea of law being a boy’s club.
Ms McMahon said she had been “blanked” by young male lawyers, who showed a lack of respect by refusing to acknowledge her.
She also touched on how prospective clients perceive women lawyers, compared with their male colleagues.
“We’ve got to do so much more to look the package and gain the client’s trust,” she said.
Ms McMahon called on the 20 or so women in attendance to lean on each other for support and solidarity.
It was the second VWL networking event in regional Victoria and took place in The Capital in Bendigo, a former Masonic lodge.
VWL exists to support women in the legal profession.
Attendees came from as far as Wangaratta and ranged from law students to seasoned practitioners.
VWL convenor Stephanie Milione said women made up the majority of law graduates since the 1980s.
“That’s interesting, because we’re not seeing them at the top,” she said.
Men still dominate the higher ranks of the industry.
Ms Milione said most directors and senior partners of Victorian legal practices were male.
“Part of that has to do with how the measuring of people’s value is done,” she said.
She said there was less weight given to soft skills such as mentoring when considering candidates for promotion to senior roles.
Women were under represented as judges, though more were becoming magistrates, and the Victorian bar was male dominated, especially at the silks level.
Victoria appointed its first female judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Rosemary Balmford, 20 years ago.
Ms Milione said much had been done to advance women’s careers in the law throughout the years, but there was work still to do.
“We find the people we interact with are pretty progressive and responsive to change,” she said.
VWL executive committee member Ella Thompson said events such as that on Friday could help women who might feel isolated in regional legal practices connect with their counterparts throughout the state.
She said VWL would make an effort to engage more with its regional members this year.