Gender discrimination within law firms is rife, but why are female lawyers afraid to speak up? Alice Seton talks a group of women who have experienced it first-hand

In her new book of feminist advice for women in the workplace, Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook and the first woman on the social networking giant's board, acknowledges what many are afraid to admit publicly: "Women face real obstacles in the professional world, including blatant and subtle sexism, discrimination and sexual harassment."

Readers of Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead will know that Sandberg (pictured), a 43-year-old American mother of two, has fought for and won priority parking for pregnant women and picked lice out of her children's hair on a company jet.

But while thousands of professional women in the UK may be comfortable operating a breast pump and a dictaphone simultaneously, the same does not seem to apply to talking about sexism.

The massive male-leaning, gender-bias in the upper echelons of the legal profession has long been lamented – but are we any closer to understanding it? And could reluctance to thrash the issue out in public be key to the dogged persistence of the problem?

After all, the usual explanation – female biology – is starting to wear thin in an age where one in five British women remain childless and where Law Society statistics for 2012 show that 23.4% of male solicitors are the primary carer for a child or children under 18 (only 13.3 percentage points fewer than the 36.7% figure for their female counterparts).

So, could more insidious forces be at work and, dare we say it, could sexism – and the taboos surrounding it – be playing a part?

Breaking the silence

I spoke to a group of UK-based female lawyers to find out whether they felt they had experienced sexism in the workplace and, if so, what impact it had on their careers.

As hushed conversations were snatched and coffees shiftily sipped, one thing became clear: the practitioners I spoke to feel they are regularly discriminated against on the grounds of their gender, but are reluctant (I would go so far as to say afraid) to talk about it.

It is not hard to understand why this might be when being seen as 'over-sensitive', a 'moaner' or a 'troublemaker has sounded the death knell of many a career, and all the more so in a male-dominated environment founded on an adversarial system.

As the Association of Women Solicitors succinctly put it: "We know it's there, but no one wants to put their head above the parapet."

Laura Bates, however, did just that when she launched the Everyday Sexism Project. Since its launch last October, her website everydaysexism.com – which acts as an anonymous forum for women to post their daily experiences – has attracted more than 20,000 posts.

The journalist observes: "Of all the women I speak to or receive messages from, it is the lawyers who are most terrified of being identified. It seems from what they tell me that many regularly experience sexism but, because of the adversarial nature of the law and because men pull the strings, they don't want to show weakness or vulnerability by raising it.

"Sexism has been normalised and there is a real disconnect between what women's rights are and what they put up with in practice."

Her observations rang true with the women I spoke to who, without exception, asked to remain anonymous before relating a series of disquieting anecdotes.

Others, even those who had moved jobs as a consequence of the treatment they had been subjected to, did not want their experiences included even anonymously, such as the fear of being perceived – or seen to perceive oneself – as a victim of sexism.

The fear of being identified and branded a troublemaker or a complainer apparently far outweighs the desire to expose the problem. Consequently, the most shocking examples of what women in the profession put up with have not made it into this article and no one was willing to be named.

One young female barrister says: "Please don't put my name in your article. When I have written about sexism in the law in the past, I received hate mail." (I myself am a practising female solicitor and following her advice, have used a pseudonym to write this article.)

Tell-tale signs

Despite the heavy cloaks of silence hanging in the corridors of the Inns of Court and law firms across the country, certain manifestations of sexist behaviour were repeatedly reported among the solicitors and barristers that I spoke to, who were from diverse practice areas and ranged in age from their 20s to their 50s.

One of the most pernicious seemed to involve men throwing their weight around with female colleagues in a way that, the women believed, they would not dare to with a man.

A highly successful senior in-house lawyer recounts how she is regularly talked down to at all-male meetings and expected to put up with sexist banter: "I am in no doubt whatsoever that they wouldn't treat me like this if I were a man."

An in-house solicitor for a major charity speaks of an interim male head of legal: "We are an all-female department and everyone is very efficient and professional. But as soon as he arrived, he began calling us 'divas', complained that working with us was 'like herding cats', tried to take the best work and tried to turn us all into his admin assistants. I think there is a certain amount of deference to men by HR departments and if he had been a woman, they would have put a stop to it earlier.

"Although it was clear to us all that this was what it was, they never tackled him for sexism because no one ever wants to use that word."

Another common experience which seems to have professional women running for the exit is unwanted sexual attention by a (usually senior) male colleague, coupled with having no one high up enough to go to.

A solicitor who subsequently went in-house tells of her horror when, aged 29 and three years qualified at a top-tier firm, she was addressed as a "lovely slut" by a partner at a work drinks event. 

"I had barely spoken to or worked with him and felt very confused and annoyed. However, I did nothing about it. At the end of the day, sexism in law firms is completely institutionalised. A woman going to an HR person – who will usually be female – to complain about a male partner is just not taken as seriously."

Another female solicitor, who also fled private practice, told how a senior male colleague at a top-ranked boutique forcibly kissed her on public transport. She recalls: "I was aware that everyone knew what he was like, but he was tolerated because of the money he brought in. It was even made clear to me that I would have to put up with it and somehow manage him.

"Making a complaint is unattractive because you are seen as the one who is 'trouble'. Certainly, the senior men never did anything about it and what is more nor did the women – perhaps because their own journey has been so difficult."

Another spoke of how repeat sexual harassment by the same senior partner was brushed under the carpet at a top-tier London firm. While he kept his job, the women in question left, either gagged by compromise agreements, too daunted to take the partnership to a tribunal or simply unable to afford a specialist lawyer of appropriate calibre.

A dressing-down

One element of legal life – particularly at the Bar – which women reported as offensive is being required to dress according to feminine stereotypes.

A 37-year-old solicitor who has left private practice for the voluntary sector recalls her first mini-pupillage: "I was put off the Bar for life when, at the age of 16, the barrister I was shadowing told me to wear high heels and make-up to court. I was mortified and that was the end of my Bar ambitions."

Another, now in her early 30s and who did make it to the Bar, found that once there, she became acutely aware of her gender: "When I started pupillage the pupils in the year above explained that trouser suits and flat shoes were frowned upon for women. It was never in any of the pupillage material or handbooks, but it was an unspoken rule.

"I remember once that I had hurt my ankle and went into the clerks' room wearing flat shoes. I got a very long and disapproving glance at my footwear from one of the senior clerks.

"It came as a massive shock to me that I could be judged on my footwear and what a female barrister should look like rather than on my ability." (She is no longer at the self-employed Bar and intends to move in-house.)

The female barristers I spoke to also felt that, particularly in commercial fields, men tend to club together to "keep women out".

A 35-year-old at a top-ranked set recounted a client marketing event where women were only invited to the drinks afterwards, even the woman who had brought in the client. She says: "Women are included and given opportunities when they are young and pretty. But all that changes when they reach their late 20s. My chambers is so male dominated that it feels like the Masons on a golf outing."

A 40-year-old barrister at a well-known Birmingham chambers echoes this: "I would describe the atmosphere there as unequivocally chauvinist and sexist. The male barristers massively outnumber us and simply do not nurture or mentor the women – who are encouraged into family law – in the way that they do their male colleagues. Chambers recently organised an event with another set and just two women were invited. My chambers is not in the 20th century, let alone the 21st."

The tradition of all-male clerking also makes it harder for women to form and sustain strong relationships with the gatekeepers of their practice. The barrister adds: "It's really difficult for women to get in with the clerks. You are expected to be seen in the clerks' room but, while the men will happily stand about chatting about sport, there is little for us to strike up a conversation over.

"This affects everything from the type of work we get to our earnings. It's quite depressing as they will even say sometimes, 'The solicitor wants a man'."

It doesn't look as though the Association of Women Barristers is far off in its observation that: "nothing has really changed for women at the Bar", adding that: "The suggestion that we have now moved into a post-feminist era is risible".

It will be no surprise to anyone that another more commonly recognised issue which came high up the list as prejudicing female career development was the failure – particularly in private practice – to champion and support women after maternity leave.

A 36-year-old mother of two, who now works in the regulatory sphere, spoke of returning to her City firm after having her first child: "After having my daughter, I would get in at 8am and leave at 5pm, unless there was a problem. I felt it was going well and I was exceeding my target hours and actually billing more than I had done before maternity leave.

"But when it came to my appraisal with two male partners, they abruptly announced that my work was not up to its previous standard and I would not be made a senior associate. I simply do not think that this was the case.

"I believe that it was their perception of me that had changed. I felt so upset and insulted that I left. It is not motherhood itself that causes the problem, but attitudes towards it." 

She adds that a friend in private practice had recently agreed to a 10% pay cut to be able to leave at 5pm after returning from maternity leave.

Not going quietly

Something is clearly rotten at the core of the law, but is it going change? Last December the Law Society, which has repeatedly tried to find out why women's legal careers are falling on the battlefield in such worrying numbers, opened a dedicated Women's Division in response to the latest statistics, without any fanfare.

Interestingly – and consistent with the coyness surrounding the subject – this was described by an insider as a "quiet launch".

It begs the question why, when only 9.4% of equity partners are women, despite 59% female entry levels and the fact that roughly 42% of women are thought to leave within nine years of qualification. If the statistics were reversed, wouldn't men be shouting it from the rooftops?

Queries to the press office confirmed that the launch of the new division was indeed not widely announced or trumpeted. The reasons given included: "There were already organisations existing for women and we just wanted to liaise with other groups" and "There were no public announcements as we wanted to ensure the website was up and stable".

It is envisaged that, once women find out about it, the division will provide "a forum for female members to champion and tackle issues of interest to them" and "a one-stop shop for women seeking advice and support on career development and the challenges facing women solicitors".

Through the polite euphemisms and jargon, Joy Van Cooten, the president of the Association of Women Solicitors (which will form the basis of the steering committee), has a simple message: "Please come forward and talk about what is really happening or things will never change."

Elsewhere in the profession noises are being made above, rather than below, the radar to ensure that women who should make it to the top do so.

Addleshaw Goddard is one of only a few leading firms to have a female senior partner, Monica Burch (pictured), and a gender working group. Partner Justine Delroy, who heads the group, believes that "unconscious bias" may in part explain the glass ceiling, but that this should be actively managed.

"There remains a need to increase female representation at senior levels across the legal sector. In male-dominated professions, such as law, unconscious bias can be a factor that impacts female progression. Research shows it is natural for people to unconsciously favour those who are similar to themselves and, in some cases, this may mean that men find it easier to progress through the ranks in an organisation which is male dominated at senior levels.

"This inadvertent bias can manifest itself in career progression processes, such as performance reviews, promotion decisions and the like, as well as in more subtle contexts, such as the allocation of work or clients."

So does this mean female lawyers are doomed to fight a losing battle? Not necessarily, according to Delroy.

"Although difficult to tackle, raising awareness of this natural behaviour will allow law firms to counter it and, in turn, provide an equal playing field. A combined approach of providing a supportive environment to inspire and develop women, while also encouraging cultural change through example and education, will be the key to breaking the industry-wide glass ceiling."