2019 is a special year for all women lawyers (and women in other professions ) in that it marks 100 years since the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal ) Act 1919. One year after women were given the vote this important act in December 2019 was the first piece of equal opportunities legislation to enter the statute books and basically enabled women to join the professions for the first time – they could become lawyers, accountants and vets, they could sit on juries and become magistrates. Today, it is difficult to imagine that an act of parliament was required for this as one would assume that the only barrier between someone entering a profession would be their qualifications and good character.
This was not the case though 100 years ago. In 1888 Eliza Orme had been the first women to gain a law degree. However, matters came to a head concerning women joining the legal profession in 1914 when the judges (all male of course) sitting in the court of appeal case of Bebb v Law Society decided women did not fall within the definition of “persons”.
This is such an unbelievable and outrageous statement that this case had to be investigated further!
The case tells the story of Gwyneth Bebb who was born in 1889 and went on to earn a first class marks in a degree in jurisprudence at Oxford University. At the time women were not awarded degrees and so she did not formally graduate. If that was not bad enough, when Gwyneth and three other women made an application to the Law Society to sit preliminary exams with a view to becoming a solicitor, their fees were returned and they were informed that if they presented for examinations they would not be allowed to sit them because a woman could not be admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court.
Undeterred Gwyneth continued her fight by asking the high court for a declaration that she was a “person” within the meaning of the Solicitors Act 1843. Her case was dismissed but she battled on and appealed to the court of appeal. There, three of the country’s top judges at the time (all male of course) decided that the statute could not be interpreted to include women because women had never been allowed to be attorneys. They stated that there was not enough in the statutes to show that the legislation intended to open the profession to women.
The necessary statute was the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 and the rest, I guess is history.
Looking around Jacksons today, with its women partners, team leaders and solicitors, it is astounding to see how far things have come in 100 years. That is not to say that the legal profession is perfect now. There is still much to be done in terms of senior appointments – in 2017 women represented about 63% of newly qualified solicitors and nearly 50% of all solicitors yet only 25% of partners, but the situation is improving year on year and as opportunities continue and flexible working and technology develop I am sure this balance can be addressed. There is still work to do on the gender pay gap but thanks to people like Eliza and Gwyneth we can genuinely tell our girls that they can become whatever they want to become. It is incumbent on all of us to encourage diversity in our profession, to encourage young women to consider law as a career option, to mentor female solicitors to fulfil their potential and to look at ways to work in our practices which will keep women in the profession and enable their careers to progress.
We have come a long way in 100 years and that is cause for celebration.
