Joanna Hardy offers nine practical pointers to improving retention of women at the criminal bar
A junior barrister has advised her male colleagues not to “act like you’re on a stag-do” or “make repetitive jokes about breasts or skirts” as part of a nine-point action plan to help improve the retention of women at the criminal bar.
Taking to Twitter, Joanna Hardy, a criminal barrister at London’s Red Lion Chambers, posted her nine practical steps to improving the working lives of female barristers. She wrote:
“We talk a lot about retention of women at the criminal bar. We wring our hands and shake our heads as females leave and leave and leave. But what can we actually do?”
Kicking things off, Hardy, who was called to the bar in 2010, suggested abolishing 9:30am court listings.
1) Abolish 09:30 listings.
This helps with childcare and the care of elderly relatives. It’s (something) predictable in a chaotic job.
(This helps male primary caregivers, too).— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
The same goes for warned lists.
2) Abolish warned lists.
No other profession prepares a piece of work (for free) on the off-chance they might be able to complete it and be paid. Let’s fix trials. That requires funding judicial sitting hours and recorders. It requires the utilisation of empty courtrooms.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
Noting that some “female advocates can have a rough time of it”, her next piece of advice was simply “be kind to each other”.
3) Be kind to each other.
Female advocates can have a rough time of it. Not all the time. And they aren’t the only ones. But just don’t do it. And if you see it, don’t tolerate it.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
The KCL law grad also called on chambers to look carefully at their policies for supporting female tenants.
4) Think about your chambers’ policies for supporting female members.
Do you have a mentoring scheme? A maternity policy? Support for returning to work? Fair allocation of cases?
If you don’t – write one.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
Next up, “help each other”.
5) Help each other.
If you’re a senior female member of the bar or female judge – encourage those behind you. Talk about how you managed families / relatives / stress / career breaks / bravado at the bar. Lend a hand. Or an ear. Speak on a panel. Write an article. Mentor. Help.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
Continuing, Hardy urged her male counterparts to not “behave like you’re on a stag-do” nor “make repetitive jokes about breasts or skirts”.
6) Don’t behave like you’re on a stag-do.
If you’re a male in a male-heavy case, don’t ask the female counsel to fetch the coffee / pour your water. Try to remember their names. Don’t make repetitive jokes about breasts or skirts. Don’t communicate solely in innuendo.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
The junior barrister’s list, which has since gone viral, continues:
7) “You’re worse than my wife” is not an acceptable way to conclude a debate about complex legal provisions.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
8) No. I don’t want to organise the case dinner.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
9) Don’t read Monday Messages from @TheCriminalBar or emails from @WellbeingCBA or books by @BarristerSecret and nod along without engaging. Do some small things to help.
— Joanna Hardy (@Joanna__Hardy) February 12, 2019
Hardy’s nine practical pointers come just 24 hours after the head of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), Chris Henley QC, stressed that more needed to be done to help tackle the “increasingly hostile environment” facing women at the bar.