The Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) has voted to join the Law Society’s new Women Lawyers Division (WLD) in order to give women solicitors a ‘stronger, louder and unified voice’, it emerged this week.
The vote, held on Monday evening at Chancery Lane, followed two years of consultation to establish a working model that best meets the needs of all women in the legal profession.
Regional AWS groups will remain independent of the national body, while their members will automatically become members of the WLD.
AWS national chair Joy Van-Cooten said: ‘With the introduction of the alternative business structures and unprecedented numbers of women entering and working in the legal profession, the fusion of the AWS and the Law Society's WLD is in the best interests of women solicitors.
‘We at the AWS will embrace this development in our history and feel that working with the WLD will give women solicitors a stronger, louder and unified voice.’
Law Society president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff said: ‘Women represent almost half of all solicitors – and that proportion is increasing. The new WLD will provide a forum for all female members to champion and tackle issues of interest to them.
‘We aim for it to provide women solicitors with a powerful voice inside and outside the Society and to draw from the experience of AWS in designing the offer to these targeted members.
‘Members of the division will benefit from a comprehensive programme of events, opinions from industry experts, news articles, interviews, tailored training and other services. The division will be consulted in the Society’s policy development work and in the origination and design of products and services for members.’
AWS Law Society council member Sarah Austin said: ‘The AWS’s invaluable history and experience will be incorporated into the new division, as a continuation of the AWS’s 90-year legacy. I also hope that our current members will continue to contribute to the vital issues affecting women solicitors, both at a national and local level.’
The AWS was established in 1923 following the admission of Carrie Morrison, the first woman solicitor to be admitted to the roll. Since then it has grown to a membership of over 18,000.
The Law Society Gazette
By Jonathan Rayner
