Oxford Women in Law event

Last week, the second OWL event was held. This panel session and networking event was kindly hosted by Hogan Lovells at their London office. The panel discussion – entitled ‘Your Career in Law - The Next Step?’ – explored career decisions for those who are post-training contract stage and are looking at career options. Organisational Consultant and Executive Coach Claire Pointing chaired a diverse, experienced and lively panel which included: Christina Blacklaws (Director of Legal Services, Cripps), Angus Coulter (Partner, Hogan Lovells), Dana Denis-Smith (Obelisk, Founder & CEO) and Harini Iyengar (Barrister, 11KBW).

The panel discussed how women could achieve in legal careers by working in law firms and at the Bar as well as in alternative legal careers. They showed how some law firms are working to make sure that women have full access to the partnership route, but also how alternative routes can work well for those seeking a different way of working. Self–employment at the Bar also has its pros and cons and some successful careers will be unconventional and made up of a series of different jobs. The panel suggested that women ‘reach up and grab information’, keep up connections and seek out mentors and sponsors. One member advised that women can be too nice! We were so pleased to see so many Oxford University lawyers – both men and women – at the event and delighted that the discussion offered supportive and practical advice to attendees.

We plan to host an ongoing programme of OWL events. Would you like to see a particular topic discussed in the future? Do you have an inspiring speaker in mind? Let us know: elizabeth.hodges@law.ox.ac.uk.

Photo credit Steve Allen. More photos from the event can be found on our Flickr account, www.flickr.com/oxfordlawfaculty.

The event was videoed: