The England and Wales Bar Council and Law Society marked the 2025 edition of International Women's Day, which took place on Saturday 8 March and whose theme was to 'accelerate action', by underscoring the importance of efforts to achieve gender equality. 

The Law Society emphasised solicitors should continue supporting women’s progress to senior levels pointing out that female solicitors represent only 34% of partners or partner equivalents, even though they make up 51% of solicitors in private practice.

Female solicitors in private practice had a 13% chance of reaching partner-equivalent levels, while male solicitors had more than double the opportunity with a 28% chance. 

Law Society president Richard Atkinson, who leads an all-male team of officeholders, said: “This International Women's Day is a poignant reminder of how far we've come and the work that still needs to be done.  

“We urge our members to sign up for our Women in Law Pledge, which asks law firms to commit to senior-level accountability for progressing gender equality. This includes setting targets for women at senior levels and creating a culture that’s inclusive and free from bias." 

Noting that the pledge, which was launched in 2019 by the then-president Christina Blacklaws, enhanced collective efforts to promote gender equality, he said: “We should all take action to make the change we want to see in our profession,” and signing it “would make a tangible difference”. 

The most recent woman to hold the Law Society presidency was Lubna Shuja, who became the first South Asian and Muslim president when she succeeded I. Stephanie Boyce – the sixth woman and first person of colour to hold the office – in October 2022.

Meanwhile, history was made at the start of this year when Barbara Mills KC became the first black woman and the first person of colour to chair the Bar Council. 

She said: “Leading the first all-female Bar Council officer team - with vice chair Kirsty Brimelow KC and treasurer Lucinda Orr - is a proud moment and, as I said in my inaugural speech, it is about time.”

She added: “This year’s [IWD] theme is ‘accelerate action’ and I believe that if we all do our little bit where we can, we will achieve the change we want. 

She emphasised key Bar Council initiatives including advocating for governmental measures to address violence against women and girls (VAWG) and highlighting the role family justice has to play in contributing to the goal of halving VAWG within a decade. 

Another priority was to close the earnings gap between men and women, raise wellbeing awareness, and build a sustainable career to “make the Bar a better, more sustainable place for women to work and thrive”.

“We must ensure that women not only join the profession but stay in the profession and progress”, she said. "What I would say to any woman considering joining us at the Bar is: look at all the women who have come before. We now have women who have occupied almost all the important roles, from Lady Chief Justice to chair of the Bar.” 

Mills was honoured last week by the Next 100 Years project, whose latest film features her.