Male lawyers dominate advocacy in top courts

Female barristers or solicitors made up 27 per cent of lead counsel appearances before the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court during a six-year period, NZ Bar Association research has found.

That is despite an equal number of male and female lawyers.

Association president Clive Elliott QC said it was disappointing: ‘‘Clearly the legal profession needs to do more, and move more quickly in order to create fairness and opportunity for women barristers and solicitors,’’ he said yesterday.

The figure for female lead counsel before the top courts dropped to 16 per cent when the Crown Law Office was excluded from the data.

Report co-authors Jenny Cooper QC and Gretta Schumacher said the disparity was worse than they expected. ‘‘The most shocking aspect is the absence of any material improvement over the six years that the study covers,’’ Cooper said.

‘‘This demonstrates the fallacy of the argument that it is just a matter of time and gender inequality will take care of itself.

‘‘Active measures are needed to overcome entrenched attitudes that deprive women of opportunities to prove themselves as advocates.’’

About 9 per cent (10.4 per cent for Court of Appeal and 7.47 per cent for Supreme Court) appearances by QCs are by women – compared with a roughly 80:20 split of male/female QCs.

There was a risk the situation would discourage young women from entering or remaining in the profession, Schumacher said.

‘‘Both male and female juniors need to have opportunities to work with and learn from senior female advocates.

‘‘We need to make conscious efforts as a profession to ensure that advocacy is not seen as a male preserve.’’