Are women still invisible on international legal directories?

Legal directories seek greater equality and visibility for women

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Líder Legal interviewed María Sol Rubio, partner in Chile and head of International Legal Directories at Gericó Associates. Together with other women related to the legal sector, she analysed the representation of women in this sector and, above all, the visibility given to them by prestigious international legal directories such as Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500.

Here is an unanimous opinion that although a large number of initiatives have been carried out in recent years to highlight women, there is still a lot of work to be done. There are still few female lawyers recognised in a world traditionally dominated by men. Proof of this is the Chambers and Partners 2021 ranking for the Latin American region, in which the total number of women included does not exceed 20%.

When asked whether this invisibility is the responsibility of the Directories or whether it is global trend, Rubio states that, in her view, “this is a global phenomenon as it reflects the inequality within the sector, which to a greater or lesser extent affects all countries. I don’t think it is a trend as such, as the most recognised international legal directories, such as Chambers and Legal 500, are actively working to reverse this situation, and in recent years we have already seen positive changes.

To this day, even the International Legal Directories still show wide inequality in terms of numbers between the two genders. In this respect, Rubio argues that this provision is merely a reflection of the current situation, and that “it is not a personal decision of the publications”. Our specialist fears that this could become a vicious circle, “since  International Legal Directories mostly rank partners and if there are no women at this level of the profession (when at associate level there is practically parity), it becomes very difficult to find professionals to stand out there”.

As she explains, the solution could be found in the modernisation of the legal industry, aiming for a more equitable model between men, women and minorities, but as Rubio reiterates, it will not be an easy task and it will take a long time to reach a situation of full and real equality. “For this, concrete action plans are needed within firms, where equal opportunities are ensured not as a wish, but as a specific objective with KPIs, adding training on gender bias and challenges that women and minorities face when seeking leadership positions, by external and specialised professionals,” she concludes.

In many countries, women’s presence in the rankings does not exceed 15%.

Chambers and Partners published the Latin America guide in the last quarter of 2020, which shows that, at the regional level, only 19% of the rankings are represented by women. In Mexico, the figure drops to 9%, in Chile to 12% and in Argentina to 13%. On the other hand, in Cuba we find 63% and in the Dominican Republic 43%, but these figures are not representative at the global level.

International Legal Directories show the reality as it is, but they are working to make some changes in favour of equality, and this is how Rubio values it when asked her opinion on the space that this issue occupies within the ranking publications and how they deepen their diversity and inclusion initiatives: “I think they are working to improve this situation, asking, for example, for statistical data and actively striving to interview more women lawyers. In the case of Chambers and Legal 500, as of this year they are also asking for information on innovation and diversity initiatives”.

In conclusion, Rubio stresses that the challenge for 2021 is to improve the representation of women in the rankings, maintain their growth (according to Chambers, the number of women ranked has grown by 3% compared to the previous year) and “demonstrate that they really care about the issue, generating concrete actions and not just reporting on the situation“.

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