Despite female solicitors continuing to outnumber their male counterparts and dominating in every area of the legal profession, men still make up the majority of leaders within the profession as the ever-pervasive pay gap continues to exist within the legal industry,
In fact, according to the 2023–24 Legal Firm of Choice Survey, conducted by Agile Market Intelligence in conjunction with Lawyers Weekly, women lawyers are significantly more likely to see the existence of a gender pay gap in the profession than men.
Over the last five years, this gap has led to smaller law firms being a more viable option for women who want to become legal leaders, with a number of SMEs and boutiques having a high percentage of women in legal leadership roles.
Melbourne-based boutique Burch&Co has an extensive number of female leaders within the firm, and 75 per cent of its executive leadership team are women. This achievement, Burch&Co founder Nich Burch said, comes down to having inclusive leave policies.
The importance of flexibility for female lawyers has long been highlighted, as women are more likely to face the “motherhood penalty” and be disproportionately impacted by inflation, with some even saying the traditional nine-to-five is “redundant” and “sexist”.
“Our paid parental and fertility leave entitlements aren’t really ‘incentives’; the policy is provided in recognition of the impact that having and trying to have children has on a team member’s career,” Burch said.
“Our policy reflects the reality that having and trying to have a kid is disruptive and hard. By calling that out and encouraging our teammates to take the time for themselves and their family, our hope is that there is never an expectation to ‘bounce back’ or that work and family exist in a vacuum. The sooner that our society ceases viewing parental leave as an ‘incentive’ or a ‘bonus’ and instead views it as an important investment – the better.”
The boutique offers 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, which can be taken at any time during the period commencing six weeks prior to and one year following the birth (or anticipated birth) of a child. This leave can also be taken as half pay for up to 24 weeks. There is also no differentiation between primary and secondary caregivers; this leave is accessible to all parents.
This leave is available to those who have been with the firm for longer than two consecutive years, and in addition, staff are entitled to two days of paid IVF leave per year, as well as two days of paid pre-adoptions leave annually if they are adopting.
The full 12 weeks of parental leave also applies to staff who suffer a stillbirth (from 20 weeks) or neonatal death (within 28 days of birth). In addition, miscarriages prior to 20 weeks of pregnancy are also eligible for four weeks’ compassionate leave.
Associate director Victoria Moffat first joined the firm as a junior lawyer – and she said she credits her confidence to succeed to Burch and other role models within the firm, who advocated against biases she experienced early in her career, instilling the confidence in her to do the same. She urged other firms to look into inclusive parental leave and progressive policies around fertility and parenthood.
“Offering IVF leave specifically acknowledges the reality that many people face in trying to have a child or in seeking to preserve their future fertility options,” Moffat said.
“Our policy aims to support women at every stage of their parenthood journey so that having a legal career doesn’t create a barrier to family life.”
While these policies are slightly rarer in smaller firms compared to BigLaw firms with larger budgets, Burch said that inclusive policies reflect the evolving priorities of Australian legal professionals and set a new industry standard for the future of the workplace.
“The fact that so many brilliant female lawyers are lost to the profession each year is saddening. Our firms, the profession and society are worse off as a result, and anything at all that can be done to address this should be explored. The policy is offered to birthing and non-birthing parents to ensure that early-stage caring and parenting can be shared more easily – as it should be.
“The notion that primary caregiving is a sole female responsibility is a very 1940s view ... our policy reflects the reality of the shared roles of parents in 2024. The data shows that anything that can keep ‘mothers’ engaged with work in some form increases the likelihood of their continued participation in the legal workforce. The profession needs more women in leadership roles,” he added.
“There is no reason why the legal profession cannot be as flexible and appealing for parents as teaching, childcare or nursing. None. We are here to prove that point.”
