Women Judges More Favoured by Lawyers
Friday, 18 June 2010, 11:14 am Press Release: Law Fuel
Judicial Survey Shows Women Judges More Favoured by Lawyers And Justice Baragwanath comes out as the most popular
LawFuel.co.nz - A survey of barristers conducted by website publishers KiwisFirst, published by Vince Siemer, have shown that retiring Court of Appeal Judge David Baragwanath was the highest overall scorer at 9.1, with embattled Supreme Court Justice Bill Wilson pulling only 3.1 in last place in the survey.
Although lawyers were requested by the Law Society not to participate in the survey, it was evidently well patronised by those who wanted to express their views on the popularity of the senior judges.
Lawyers were asked to score each judge on a scale of 1 to 10 in four categories; knowledge of the law, intelligence, personal character and fairness - as well as provide relevant comments.
Though women comprise 21% of the judges surveyed, they captured half of the top ten spots and three of the top five in the overall rankings. The average rating for female judges was 7.75, compared to 7.50 for the men.
Male judges still scored, on average, higher in knowledge of the law and intelligence, but the women outranked the men on the 'perceived fairness and integrity' ranking. blew the men away on perceived fairness and integrity.
Mr Siever commented: "If Judith Potter J - a definite outlier in the survey - was removed, female judges on average were considered an astounding 28% fairer in their judicial approach than their male counterparts."
"The results from the survey also raised the disturbing possibility that the overall judicial pool is short on talent and that, with the possible exception of Sian Elias, the New Zealand Supreme Court is not the bastion for this scarce legal talent. There appears palpable fear by some lawyers responding that the Supreme Court is not as reliable as the Privy Council was."
He commented that there was little diversity in the court and that minorities are virtually unrepresented. "Comments were common that many judges act with overt bias on Crown cases" he said.
"These results strongly suggest that New Zealand consider re-evaluating the mechanism by which judges are appointed, promoted and monitored."
Monday, August 23, 2010
Women Lawyers In New Zealand - latest figures
LawFuel - The Law Jobs and Legal NewsWire:
Women lawyers are increasing rapidly in New Zealand, although partner statistics are yet to reflect their growing numbers. The law firm with the highest percentage of women partners is South Island-based Anderson Lloyd, who have Eleven women partners - 40% - our of a total 27. In percentage terms, the next largest was Brookfields with 35% (6) and DLA Phillips Fox with 28% (7).
There has been a significant trend towards more women in law over the past decade. Figures received by LawFuel show that female admissions began to overtake men in 1993 with 266 female admissions to the bar, compared with the male figure of 245. The split was 52%/48%.Five years ago the figure was 456/370 (55%/45%). In 2006 it was 464/316 (61%/39%).
The women partner figures (assembled as at the end of 2007 and grouped according to the percentage of women partners) show the following in terms of
1. Total Partners, 2. Women Partners and 3. Percentage Women Partners:
Total partners Women partners Percentage (women)
1. Anderson Lloyd 27 11 40
2. Brookfields 17 6 35
3. DLA Phillips Fox 25 7 28
4. Minter Ellison 34 9 26
5. Meredith Connell 22 5 22
6. Simpson Grierson 44 7 16
7. Chapman Tripp= 51 7 14
7. Kensington Swan = 35 5 14
8. Morrison Kent = 17 2 12
8. Martelli McKegg = 12 3 12
9. Buddle Findlay 35 4 11
10. Bell Gully 41 4 10
The ratings need to be seen in the context of the aspirations and relative priorities of women in law as much as any attempts by law firms to stifle their lawyers' aspirations.It is clear from research that many women simply have not sought the partner roles and put family preferences ahead of their professional ambitions. This has altered somewhat with many firms adopting a more flexible work/life balance for male and female lawyers alike, which in turn has lead to a greater move of women into leadership positions in law firms.
Women lawyers are increasing rapidly in New Zealand, although partner statistics are yet to reflect their growing numbers. The law firm with the highest percentage of women partners is South Island-based Anderson Lloyd, who have Eleven women partners - 40% - our of a total 27. In percentage terms, the next largest was Brookfields with 35% (6) and DLA Phillips Fox with 28% (7).
There has been a significant trend towards more women in law over the past decade. Figures received by LawFuel show that female admissions began to overtake men in 1993 with 266 female admissions to the bar, compared with the male figure of 245. The split was 52%/48%.Five years ago the figure was 456/370 (55%/45%). In 2006 it was 464/316 (61%/39%).
The women partner figures (assembled as at the end of 2007 and grouped according to the percentage of women partners) show the following in terms of
1. Total Partners, 2. Women Partners and 3. Percentage Women Partners:
Total partners Women partners Percentage (women)
1. Anderson Lloyd 27 11 40
2. Brookfields 17 6 35
3. DLA Phillips Fox 25 7 28
4. Minter Ellison 34 9 26
5. Meredith Connell 22 5 22
6. Simpson Grierson 44 7 16
7. Chapman Tripp= 51 7 14
7. Kensington Swan = 35 5 14
8. Morrison Kent = 17 2 12
8. Martelli McKegg = 12 3 12
9. Buddle Findlay 35 4 11
10. Bell Gully 41 4 10
The ratings need to be seen in the context of the aspirations and relative priorities of women in law as much as any attempts by law firms to stifle their lawyers' aspirations.It is clear from research that many women simply have not sought the partner roles and put family preferences ahead of their professional ambitions. This has altered somewhat with many firms adopting a more flexible work/life balance for male and female lawyers alike, which in turn has lead to a greater move of women into leadership positions in law firms.
Friday, August 13, 2010
ALB latest articles
http://aulegalbusinessonline.com/news/breaking-news/female-in-house-lawyers-smash-through-glass-ceiling/48690
This article looks at the break through statistics of female lawyers in in-house roles. At the bottom of the article there are links to some other interesting research on parental leave, the glass ceiling and pathways to partnership.
This article looks at the break through statistics of female lawyers in in-house roles. At the bottom of the article there are links to some other interesting research on parental leave, the glass ceiling and pathways to partnership.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
UN resources - gender issues
In an historic move, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously on 2 July 2010 to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.
Check out more details:
http://www.unwomen.org/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/
Check out more details:
http://www.unwomen.org/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/
Work Life Balance panel discussion
18th August 2010, 12-1.30pm
Hosted by Simpson Grierson, level 24 HSBC Tower Wellington,
Hope you can make it!
Hosted by Simpson Grierson, level 24 HSBC Tower Wellington,
Hope you can make it!
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