November Edition 2020

11 In UK - 32% of Court Judges and 46% of Tribunal Judges are women (April 2020) In the UK, appearances can be deceptive "The percentage of women in the top ranks of business in the U.S. is higher than among arbitrators, but lower than in the judiciary. As of April 2019, an average of 25% of top business leaders in the country are women, but only 6% of CEOs are women. By sector, the retail industry has the highest percentage of women, at 12%, followed by the consumer products industry, at 8%. The industry with the lowest percentage CEOs who are women is healthcare at 1%." “In the diversity stakes, on the surface, the UK appears to be doing well. We have had two women prime ministers, women in the cabinet, women lead the judiciary and the police and senior women in business. And yet when we dig deeper, we can see that the statistics show a different story,” sai d Clarissa Coleman, a Commercial Litigation partner at K&L Gates, (Coleman is moving to DAC Beachcroft in January 2021). “In law, 60% of new entrants to law firms are women and yet only 37% of partners in British law firms are women. This figure drops to 29% when only firms of 50 or more lawyers are considered. Broken down further, women represent 20% of partners in the top 10 law firms and 18% in the next 15 firms,” adds Coleman. “On the bench in the UK, however, although some progress has been made in recent years, women unfortunately remain under-represented. As of 1 April 2020, females accounted for 32% of Court Judges and 46% of Tribunal Judges,” points ou t Susannah Fink, Legal Director and co-lead of the Israel Desk at global law firm Gowling WLG. “There have been improvements in the process of appointment – Lady Black and Lady Arden now sit on the Supreme Court (twowomen alongside 10men), and Dame Victoria Sharp is President of the Queen’s Bench Division - however, the current small numbers of women judges overall means that progress is slow and fragile,” said Miriam Lampert, partner in the Employment group and Head of Israel Group at Squire Patton Boggs. “A judiciary that notably fails to reflect the ethnic, gender and social composition of the wider nation poses serious questions about its constitutional validity,” she adds.