"Nowadays, the presence of women is practically equal in the profession, with 44% of women lawyers, however, their presence in the highest positions in the management of law firms is only 5.3%", said the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop. The minister attended the conference 'Equality in the legal profession in Spain. Tools to move forward', organised by the Woman Forward Foundation.The Foundation, an institution that works to boost value creation in organisations by promoting female talent through research.
"Women's talent is unquestionable, their merits are unquestionable and we are just as prepared as men. Not only that, but so are the challenges we face. We have to bet on this talent to achieve equality and social justice. One element is European funds and legislation", acknowledged Pilar Llop. Along these lines, she highlighted the main measures her ministry is working on, such as "the regulation of maternity leave as a cause for suspension of legal proceedings or the protection of victims, where we have proposed that professionals with a gender-related record should not be able to defend victims".
In addition to the ministerMore than 15 experts from different areas of the legal sector discussed the current situation and how to achieve effective equality.. A challenge that requires, as they agreed, a commitment to talent and the overcoming of unconscious biases. In fact, the latter have become clear in the latest research carried out by the Woman Forward Foundation, which showed how men perceive the progress of equality more optimistically (74% believe that progress has been made in recent years in this area), while only 48% of women lawyers believe that steps have been taken towards achieving it.
"The research reveals a lack of congruence between the way men perceive women in the social sphere and the professional sphere. In the professional sphere, men perceive women in managerial tasks, traditionally associated with male archetypes, as worse professionals. This implies their inclination to promote men automatically. It explains, on the other hand, the slow progress in the legal sector, despite the fact that it cannot be said that there is not a sufficient pipeline of university-prepared women in this sector", stressed Miriam Izquierdo, president of the Woman Forward Foundation, during the welcoming ceremony together with Paloma Barandiarán, legal director of GSG Legal Hub; Juan José Sánchez Puig, CEO of ISDE; and Ángel Asensio, president of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce.
"The Woman Forward Foundation proposes the Woman Forward© Certification in Equality and Competitiveness as a comprehensive system for managing equality in organisations as a fundamental instrument for progress in law firms", added Miriam Izquierdo.
One of the main problems, as the speakers agreed, is the lack of women lawyers in managerial positions and the difficulty to develop their careers with that objective in mind.Despite the fact that at the beginning of university studies there is a higher percentage of female students. "There is still work to be done to tackle unconscious biases, imbalances in work-life balance and, especially, to make women feel that they are not alone by strengthening professional networks in which they can develop their skills, talents and leadership to the full," she said. Lucía Casanueva, Managing Partner of PROA Comunicación and speaker at the round table on the role of the media and communications consultancies, which also included Carlos Berbell, Managing Director of Confilegal; and Xavier Gil Pecharromán, Director of Iuris&Lex; and moderated by Paloma Díaz Lorente, partner at Royo &Becerro & Peñafort Abogados.
The media are a tool for promoting change, but, as Sara Muñoz, head of economic courts at the EFE Agency, pointed out, "it is still clear that the figure of women lawyers is relegated to second place, behind the firm's star partner". For this reason, she encouraged "the interlocutors to be self-critical and to be willing to give that voice, because otherwise they will lose talent".
Talent and work-life balance
The importance of talent management and labour legislation were the two main themes of the day in order to make progress towards effective equality, which were the focus of the other two round tables. In them, it was noted that the change of culture and new generations are posing new challenges, which are making the traditional business model rethink..
"There is a profound social change taking place and the new generations are coming on strong, talking about emotional salary, work-life balance, etc., and firms face the challenge of satisfying this demand, while being clear about the difficulty and sacrifice of our profession. And one tool is flexibility in its broadest sense", said Patricia Gualde, partner and director of the Litigation and Insolvency Department at Broseta, who shared the space with Juan Gonzalo Ospina, member of the Governing Board of ICAM; María José Menéndez, managing partner of Commercial Law at Ashurst Spain; and María González, partner of Intellectual Property, Industrial and Digital Business at CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo.
A change that needs time and that must be tackled from the earliest stages. "It is true that we have to work on leadership and conciliation, although the main problem is self-barriers. But we need time and we have to work from the beginning. We realise that the retention and promotion of female talent comes a little late in the pyramid, we have to work on it from university, from the first years of work", added José Luis Risco, Director of Human Resources at EY Spain.
In this line, the third roundtable also shared how labour legislation and plans, both national and international, have to move forward in this field. "Promoting equality in law firms means making a real commitment to talent, meritocracy, creativity, innovation and productivity, which will also allow us to provide a better service to our clients. The time has come to step on the accelerator," commented Pilar Menor, global co-chair of DLA Piper's global labour practice, together with Auxiliadora Zapata, director of equality management at Woman Forward's Club de Empresas; María José Ramo, partner in Garrigues' labour practice; and Ana Higuera, director of ProBono at the Fernando Pombo Foundation.
Along the same lines, the director of equality management at the Woman Forward Business Club stated that "managing the inclusion of diversity has become an imperative due to the impact it has in legal, economic and social terms on the development of organisations. Being aware of this reality, incorporating diversity in the strategy of companies, has very positive results both in the income statement and in the climate".
"Work-life balance must be built on the principles of trust and flexibility between professionals, regardless of whether we are called father, mother, son or daughter. Growing as a professional, while being able to live and take care of others, should not be a matter of gender", concluded Alberto Gilarranz, partner of Auren's Labor & Employment department.