Equitable Briefing Policy
Thomson Geer has signed up to the Law Council’s National Model Equitable Briefing Policy. The Policy includes interim and long term targets with the ultimate aim of briefing women in at least 30% of all matters and paying 30% of the value of all brief fees to female barristers by 2020. It is intended to drive cultural change within the legal profession, support the progression and retention of women barristers, and address the significant pay gap and underrepresentation of women in the superior courts.
If you would like to find out more about this, the Law Council has a webpage dedicated to this Policy: https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/policy-agenda/advancing-the-profession/equal-opportunities-in-the-law/national-model-gender-equitable-briefing-policy.
Not only does this illustrate our support to the Law Council’s commitment to ensure a level playing field for all members of the Australian legal profession, it responds to client demand and is a testament to our continued efforts towards achieving diversity measures within our firm.
This year’s promotions
In July, our firm announced 11 internal promotions to our Partnership, and 7 promotions to the role of Special Counsel. Of the 18 promotions to Partner/Special Counsel, 10 were female. One of our new Partners is Bronwyn Furse, who had her first child earlier this year and as a result spent part of the past financial year on parental leave. Lauren Rowan, one of our newly promoted Special Counsel, was pregnant with her second child at the time of her promotion, and has since taken parental leave. This highlights our firm’s commitment to promoting quality and deserving candidates, irrespective of gender or family situation.