The Women in Law Pledge is a joint initiative by the Bar Council, Law Society and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) to help tackle the issue of gender equality in the legal profession.
4 Stone Buildings: Targets and Action Plan
Chambers intends to meet the following targets:
- Target 1: to continue monitoring allocation of work opportunities and working to principles of fair allocation and to monitor income to ensure fair distribution of work.
- Target 2: to continue to support women to ensure parity of retention rates between women and men in Chambers, including by ensuring the ED&I Code continues to include effective parental leave and flexible working policies, and by ensuring the continuation of supportive relationships in Chambers.
- Target 3: to develop and maintain the mentoring schemes in Chambers to ensure support is provided to women members in their applications for silk, judicial position or other appointments, including panel appointments, and to continue to promote the use of practice development meetings.
- Target 4: to continue to increase the number and proportion of women members of Chambers. As at August 2022, 22.5% of the members of Chambers are women (9 out of 40 members). Of the 10 most junior members of Chambers, 40% are women.
- Target 5: to increase the number of women clerks in Chambers. As at August 2022, Chambers has no women clerks (out of 6 clerks).
- Target 6: to continue participation by women in marketing and speaking opportunities and to continue to ensure that marketing activities offered by Chambers take into consideration location and timing to ensure the continued participation of women barristers and women professional clients.
- Target 7: to ensure that women are properly represented on all committees in Chambers. As at August 2022 the total proportion of women on all of Chambers’ committees is 32.6%. While women are well represented on most of Chambers’ committees, the proportion of women for some committees is less than the proportion of women members in Chambers.
- Target 8: to review and maintain a policy for menopause included in the ED&I Code, to ensure support and adjustments for women in Chambers in the period before, during and after the menopause.
December 2024
An update on the Women in Law Pledge and our continued progress since 4 Stone Buildings became a signatory in 2022:
Target 1: to continue monitoring allocation of work opportunities and working to principles of fair allocation and to monitor income to ensure fair distribution of work.
Actions: We have continued to monitor the allocation of work opportunities across Chambers, and the income of members of Chambers (using graphs of anonymised income distribution), to ensure fair distribution of work and equality of opportunity and career development. The monitoring of opportunities is undertaken by a sub-committee of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (“ED&I Committee”). The sub-committee includes our Joint Equality and Diversity Officers (“EDOs”), our Data Diversity Officer (“DDO”), our Joint Deputy Senior Clerks and one of the members of Chambers accountable for gender diversity and inclusion. The monitoring of income is undertaken by our DDO. The outcome of that monitoring is reported to the wider ED&I Committee for consideration. Chambers continues to be committed to fair allocation and fair distribution of work. Further, we have, for example, ensured awareness of the principles and recommendations in the Chancery Bar Association’s Voices of Women at the Chancery Bar Report.
Target 2: to continue to support women to ensure parity of retention rates between women and men in Chambers, including by ensuring the ED&I Code continues to include effective parental leave and flexible working policies, and by ensuring the continuation of supportive relationships in Chambers.
Actions: We ensure that the ED&I Code is available for all members and Chambers’ staff on our internal Shared Drive, and our policies are kept up to date. We provide ED&I updates to members of Chambers on the work of the ED&I Committee. Chambers most recently recruited two new tenants: one woman and one man. The ED&I Committee (in particular the Joint EDOs, the DDO, and the Joint Deputy Senior Clerks on the committee) specifically highlight the parental leave and flexible working policies to those to whom it may be relevant and applicable, and we have monitored the level of support provided to such individuals during and after their leave/flexible working arrangements, to ensure it meets the standards set in our policies.
Target 3: to develop and maintain the mentoring schemes in Chambers to ensure support is provided to women members in their applications for silk, judicial position or other appointments, including panel appointments, and to continue to promote the use of practice development meetings.
Actions: Chambers has in recent years had a successful mentoring scheme for members in their first few years of practice, and that scheme continues for Chambers’ new tenants. Members of Chambers have started providing internal talks regarding applications for appointments, including Attorney General Panel applications. This has resulted in one woman in Chambers and two men achieving appointments to the Attorney General’s C Panel in the past two years (see details of the Attorney General’s Panel here). The clerking team promotes the use of practice development meetings (“PDMs”) with members, and junior members are advised by their mentors to use PDMs.
Target 4: to continue to increase the number and proportion of women members of Chambers.
Actions: Since we became signatories to the Women in Law Pledge, the proportion of women members of Chambers has continued to grow (9 out of 39 members). Of the 10 most junior members of Chambers, 40% are women.
Target 5: to increase the number of women clerks in Chambers.
Actions: We have already succeeded in meeting this target and will continue to seek to develop it further. In particular we have recruited three women to our clerking team: one as our Marketing Executive, and two on the Clerking and Administration side. Two are working with us already and the third will start in early 2025.
Target 6: to continue participation by women in marketing and speaking opportunities and to continue to ensure that marketing activities offered by Chambers take into consideration location and timing to ensure the continued participation of women barristers and women professional clients.
Actions: Chambers’ Marketing Committee and Pupillage Committee have taken into account this target when organising events. Events have included talks to law firms during the working day, in addition to events in the evening after the working day, and successful client events at England Women’s Football matches. Chambers has also recently become a sponsor of the London Branch of International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (“IWIRC”) and some members of Chambers are also members of IWIRC. A number of our members attend the Female Advocates’ Breakfast and events hosted by the Inns of Court Alliance for Women. Our women members also speak at women in law events at universities.
Target 7: to ensure that women are properly represented on all committees in Chambers.
Actions: Women continue to be represented on Chambers’ committees (including 2 women on the ED&I Committee), and monitoring of this continues.
Target 8: to review and maintain a policy for menopause included in the ED&I Code, to ensure support and adjustments for women in Chambers in the period before, during and after the menopause.
Actions: In addition to the menopause policy in the ED&I Code, in December 2022 a member of Chambers staff participated in a Menopause Awareness training course and is the nominated contact to address any issues regarding the impact of menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms.
Nicola Timmins and Emma Horner are the members of Chambers accountable for gender diversity and inclusion. Chambers’ ED&I Committee will be monitoring the targets and will report to the Bar Council annually
