AWS LONDON NEWSLETTER Issue 4

433

Association of Women London Newsletter

DIARY DATES See page 13 for all of our upcoming events

January 2016

ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESS Upcoming Events

Thursday Welcome from the Chair 21 January 2016

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty I qualified almost thirty years ago, Best wishes when it was still a novelty to have so Wednesday many women entering the profession and it was thought that gender Coral 10 February 2016 equality was a numbers game; more AGM and Annual Dinner women qualifying would result in more women at senior levels. Wednesday 27 March 2016 As we all know, that has not The Composition of Boards happened. Many women leave practice and those who stay, often take longer than men to achieve their goals, while being paid less for the privilege. Family responsibilities are See Page 13 for more details one factor in the talent drain, but by no means can this alone account for such an enormous loss. One way to get involved in the debate about How to contact us women’s role and status in the legal Linda Davies, our administrator, who profession and to make a difference is also a committee member, will is by being a member of AWS forward your messages to the London. committee if you contact her on As well as our social and educational [email protected] events, we comment on consultation papers, promote women’s Don't forget that you can also keep achievements and issue press up with our activities by joining our releases. Our Committee welcomes LinkedIn group, or our Facebook new ideas, so check out our website group, or by following us on Twitter. and send us your views by email or on our social media.

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A Scottish

brain”. Her first opportunity came in the form of 6 weeks conducting interviews for a post-graduate researcher writing a paper on male friendship patterns. “This taught me a lot about interviewing people, from preparatory research to dressing appropriately for different interviewees.”

This was followed by fifteen months of part-time work at Surrey University summarising academic papers on study methods research and helping to write a successful research proposal - and all for 90 pence an hour! “This may seem like meagre recompense but in Guildford in the 1970s I was fortunate to find any interesting part-time employment.”

Teaching To her surprise, “because I had never intended to become a teacher,” Elizabeth found great pleasure in helping her own children to count and read, so with the encouragement of her mother-in-law, “a very wise primary schoolteacher”, she headed for Gipsy Hill College of Education then running a special course in Guildford for “mature students”.

Her original intention had been to look for that elusive part- In the last issue we featured an interview with Madeleine time position, but for the next ten years she taught full-time at Heggs, one of our four Honorary Members. For this issue Godalming Sixth Form College having satisfied the Linda Davies interviewed another Honorary Member, interviewing panel that she had adequate childcare Elizabeth Cruickshank. arrangements in place. “In terms of ability to teach A Level English, the other candidates were as well qualified as I, but I Beginnings sold myself on the Study Skills research and a subsidiary Anyone who has talked to Elizabeth will know that she is a Moral Philosophy course I undertook at university. What I Scot from Aberdeenshire who learned to play golf not far learned from that process is to identify beforehand any skills from the source of my favourite smoked salmon. Encouraged that can set you apart from other candidates.” by her father to become the first member of her family to go on to higher education, Elizabeth left for Aberdeen Elizabeth enjoyed teaching and the classroom contact with University, to study English and History. Five years later she young people, but always eager to learn, in 1980 she left Aberdeen with an M.A., a husband, a 15 month old son obtained a Schoolteacher Fellow Commonership at Selwyn and a half-finished M.Litt. dissertation on “The Theory of College, Cambridge. Her dissertation was her passport to a Relativity in Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet”. summer term spent in Cambridge University Library, attending lectures in anything that caught her interest and in “I was very fortunate in my tutor, Dr Joan Pittock, whose the evenings dining at High Table. “It was a great luxury. For support extended beyond academic tuition to turning up one a term I shed the responsibilities of school and family and day with a Silver Cross pram and other baby necessities and basked in the conversation of some very impressive dons who continued to encourage me until her death three years such as Owen Chadwick, the Master of Selwyn and ago.” Professor John Spencer, then a relatively junior Law Lecturer – and I learned how to take snuff.” With the cobwebs dusted After her husband qualified as an accountant, the family off her notes and some additional research, she obtained her moved to England and then after a short stay in South M.Litt in 1981. Wales, where her daughter was born, settled in Guildford, a city which was to give her the opportunity to qualify first as a Legal transition teacher and then as a solicitor. Elizabeth had always found the “idea of Law” attractive and “when, with my family’s encouragement I made the decision “I certainly was not cut out to be a stay at home mother,” she to change career, I was able to study at The College of Law admits, “and I was desperate to do something to use my in Guildford which I could just about see across the river from

AWS LONDON NEWSLETTER | Issue 4 3

our home.” Although two years later Elizabeth began her As well as chairing the AWS National Committee in 2004/5 articles at a City firm, the search process had initially been a Elizabeth has produced thirty issues of LINK, written four frustrating one. “I have never been conscious of suffering books and now gives talks on the historical aspects of discrimination because of my gender, but trying to obtain women working in the law. She is also involved in the articles brought me face to face with age discrimination, both First100Years project and in various academic initiatives directly and indirectly. Despite numerous applications I leading up to the centenary of the Sex Disqualification obtained only two interviews. The first was a disaster, but the (Removal) Act 1919. “None of this would have happened second thankfully was at .” Thankfully, without my joining the AWS, which has also given me years because one of the interviewing partners, Donald Amlott, of friendship with some wonderful women whom I would not was a great fan of Lawrence Durrell’s writing. otherwise have met. So thank you AWS”

Elizabeth qualified into the tax department, and explains that Final comment “for a tax lawyer the ability to understand how language Elizabeth has been writing a biography of Carrie Morrison for works is surprisingly important. There is a surprising as long as I’ve known her and it looks as though it might take similarity between analysing dense tax legislation and literary her even longer than that dissertation! appreciation. I like investigating words and phrases, and solving problems." Golf, which she had learned as a child, Linda Davies is a solicitor and AWS London Administrator also came in handy. “Initially I was the only woman on client golf days, but over the past couple of decades the growth in the number of female business golfers has been gratifyingly Christmas Cheer substantial.” Baranis in Chancery Lane provided a cheerful start to Christmas for the many members and their guests who came A decision to combine her legal expertise with her teaching along to our Christmas Drinks Party on 2 December. Our and writing skills led Elizabeth becoming a Professional sponsors, the International Bar Association came along and Support lawyer, first with Theodore Goddard and then with generously raffled a bottle of champagne. They look forward . “Support work has more regularised hours but to meeting more of our members at the AGM in February. its scope, by way of contrast, is often much wider than transactional work." Noting that PSL work is sometimes We had guests from the chambers of 5 St Andrews Hill and dismissed as "being on the mommy track", she emphasises which made for a great mix of solicitors and that the position requires good organisation, as well as barristers. And on the career side Cabinet Office Policy research and training skills and an ability to deal effectively Advisor, Rose Jefferies talked informally to us about the with large amounts of new material. “For me it also meant search for increased diversity of applicants for public that in a short space of time I had to move from a self- appointments. invented card index know-how system to developing a computerised system with my colleagues – quite a culture The Cabinet Office will be keeping AWS London aware of shock for someone who was still a tyro typist”. forthcoming opportunities which we will publish on LinkedIn and in our new website. The AWS Joining the AWS in 1991 was a stepping-stone to Elizabeth fulfilling her childhood ambition to be a writer. Six years later when the AWS planned a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the admission of the first women solicitor, Carrie Morrison, in which her newly-qualified daughter also participated, Elizabeth was asked to produce a brochure on the history of women solicitors. “There was a traditional tale that the first four women to pass their Finals examinations in December 1922 raced down Chancery Lane to see who would have the honour of being the first to be admitted. But,” she told me emphatically, “the daughter of one of these women told me that this is simply untrue. In fact as Carrie’s articles expired first, there was no one else who could be the first.”

When the black and white AWS LINK Newsletter was replaced in 2001, Elizabeth became the first editor of the new glossier version. Sadly the Law Society can no longer afford to fund LINK, but modern technology has enabled us to produce our online AWS London Newsletter with Elizabeth “very happily” back in her editor’s role.

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values in our daily life, at university, at home and at work. Many lessons came from the audience too. One woman warned my generation against planning when to have A Sparkling Future? children – after all, you can’t! It was freeing advice, that we A week later, and the conference is still fresh in my mind. It needed to be open to change. Yet I remained a little puzzled was an honour to attend and sit in a room full of inspirational for after all my generation is determining totally new modes individuals says Josephine Macintosh, a student at the of work and family life, and doing so in usually outdated University of Law who spoke at the Spark21conference structures… an uncertain future indeed, for which planning organised by First100Years, which invited us to consider must be necessary? what difficulties women lawyers have had to face over the past century and how we could achieve even more in the Final result future. For me the experience was a metaphor for the First 100 Years project, with each person in the room becoming one of the project’s testimonials. Now, what remains most with me is a feeling of opportunity and companionship. Despite not knowing what the future holds, there is company on the way there, and that company has substance.

Elizabeth Cruickshank spoke on the History panel at the conference. Like Josephine and two of the other speakers on the history panel, I too came armed with a set of notes, mostly packed with facts and figures showing how few women actually qualified as solicitors in the decades between 1922 and 1960 (only 356 held PCs in 1957, one of whom was our Honorary Member Madeleine Heggs), how many of the first decade’s cohort came from legal families (56%) and how many of them did not marry (40%).

Like Josephine I too found that my notes were only tangentially required as we all tried to focus on thoughts that might be helpful to those younger than ourselves. And probably Josephine would agree with me that factual preparation is not enough. You need to be prepared to deal with the unexpected!

Preparation and substance

I arrived at the panel with a slim notebook full of notes. These veered from women being held back by the unconscious bias of people in charge, to the UK’s dearth of women in top legal positions. Slovenia’s judges are 78% female and France’s 64%, while Britain lags behind with a measly 23%. In the corner of one page was a list headed ‘my own fears’. One asked how I could ensure a rich family life and be fully immersed in work; another declared that I wanted to work in diverse environments without having to act tougher or louder in order to be heard. At the bottom, I declared that the latter would ensure the former. I was ready to solve women in law.

But then, Dame Jenni Murray’s masterful conversational style enveloped us and my notes became irrelevant. She asked us how we could combat everyday sexism, and what had brought each of us to law. The result was a productive discussion, one that painted the future of women in law as determined by the way that we, as individuals, affirm our

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Other aims

First 100 Years Other aims are to organise a series of talks and conferences (under the Spark21 banner) which will help to explain our You may well ask – “The first 100 years of what?” past and will provide platforms for intelligent discussion about 1922 was the year when the first women qualified as the present and future position of women in the legal solicitors or barristers in this country and we are still seven profession. years away from a centennial celebration, but we are only The novelist Katharine McMahon, was one of the first four years away from the centenary of the passing of the Sex speakers to be attracted by the First100Years vision, two Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, the Act which made it AWS London members spoke at the first Spark21 possible for women to enter the legal and many other conference at Simmons & Simmons and Dana herself joined professions. the panel at our “A Break from Tradition” event. You can read What relevance if any, does it have for to-day’s women and about all of these later in this Newsletter. women lawyers? AWS London Initial aim AWS London is proud to join the list of legal organisations Dana Denis-Smith, a journalist turned solicitor turned including The Law Society and The Bar Council who are entrepreneur and the CEO of Obelisk Support , realised in championing the First100Years project. We’ll try to let you 2014 that we were only a few years away from 2019 and the know in advance of future First100Years events. But in the Centenary of the 1919 Act and that very little was apparently meantime if you want to know more about the project, how known and even less publicised about our progress as you might get involved and the experiences of women lawyers over the intervening years. She decided to make this lawyers over the past 100 years – and indeed even further an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in back – take a look at the First100Years web-site at the law since the passing of the Act. http://first100years.org.uk/

One of her main aims is to create a digital archive of 100 . video stories which in 2019 will be donated to the British Library. If you look at the First100 Years web-site you will be able to access some of the video interviews already recorded together with written interviews and articles on the careers of legal women some still in practice and some very much in the past. Although perhaps not so much in the past as some could most certainly have been the grandmothers of some of us or the great-grandmothers of most.

We want to hear from you

Remember you can follow us, contact us and send comments. Click below to connect to our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

www.awslondon.co.uk

AWS LONDON NEWSLETTER | Issue 4 6

International Bar Association For more Info… The International Bar Association (IBA), established in 1947, is the world’s leading organisation of international legal practitioners, bar associations, law firms and law societies. To join the IBA or to make any The IBA influences the development of international law reform and shapes the enquiries, please contact us at future of the legal profession throughout the world. It has a membership of more [email protected] than 80,000 individual lawyers and more than 190 bar associations and law societies spanning 160 countries. Or telephone: (0)207 842 0090

Inspired by the vision of the United Nations, the IBA was founded in the same

spirit, just before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in

1948.

The principal aims and objectives of the IBA

 to promote an exchange of information and views among its members as to laws, practices and professional responsibilities around the globe;  to support the independence of the judiciary and the right of lawyers to practise their profession without interference;

 to support human rights for lawyers worldwide through the IBA Human

Rights Institute;  to provide members with world class professional development to enable them and their organisations to deliver outstanding legal services;  to deliver top level international network-building opportunities; and  to be committed to the development of international law reform.

The IBA covers all practice areas and professional interests, providing members with access to leading experts and up-to-date information.

Through its various committees, fora and task forces, the IBA facilitates the exchange of information and views among its members as to laws, practices and professional responsibilities relating to the practice of law around the globe.

Learning and joining

To find out more about the IBA see www.ibanet.org

Immigration for Non Immigration Lawyers

Before visiting the US or UK on business don’t forget to seek immigration specialist advice - this was one of the take home messages from our evening with experts from Lewis Silkin’s Immigration and Global Mobility team on 12 November. Diana Okoeva highlighted the need to be especially aware of visiting the US on business and what scenarios may lead to a Business visa being required. Issues relating to transferring personnel and settling investors and entrepreneurs in the UK were covered by Poppy Wiseman and Olga Nechita. Ben Maitland then revealed some of the complexities involved in trying to settle in the UK with a non EU spouse. With many questions to answer lively discussion flowed afterwards over drinks and canapes kindly hosted by Lewis Silkin.

Gillian Fielden

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University of Law Freshers’ Fair These are women brought up with social media as an integral part of their daily lives and yet so many have For the second year running, AWS London has themselves remained silent, following inappropriate participated in the University of Law Freshers’ Fair. comments on their own LinkedIn photos. Whatever you may think of the particular incident Charlotte Proudman It’s been fantastic to meet so many enthusiastic, aspiring chose to highlight, there is a clear group of women in the solicitors and barristers but what a shame, that so law who say ‘Thank you for speaking out’. recently, they have been confronted by unwelcome attitudes to women in the profession. Two events in Coral Hill, AWS London Chair particular have given rise to extensive discussion.

The first was Lord Sumption opining that it is likely to take

50 years for women to achieve parity in the judiciary (and

he thought that was OK), and the second the comments

on Charlotte Proudman’s LinkedIn photograph made by

an older male solicitor. All the students wanted to know what the AWSL position was.

The answer to the first is easy; we issued a press release

rejecting Lord Sumption’s view, which you can read on our

website. The second occupies far more controversial

territory and so far has given rise to not a word on the

AWS London social media. I can imagine why, and the

possible reasons are too many to rehearse here, but I was

struck by the lack of ambivalence in the younger women I

met.

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unpredictable hours, “I was commuting from Haslemere in A Break From Tradition Surrey, which involved total travel time of over three hours For many people who enter the solicitor’s profession the a day”. traditional career goal is to progress through several tiers of responsibility to an ultimate partnership. But as five It’s a fallacy that you can work on the train, because experienced solicitors, Christina Blacklaws, Dana people are constantly walking past able to look over your Denis-Smith, Jill Glover, Penny Mackinder and Ian shoulder, which in terms of client confidentiality is not very Searle, told us, courtesy of the splendid facilities of CMS sensible.” Additionally he found that because of the Cameron McKenna, there are many other ways of making difficulty of getting home late-night working could suddenly the legal profession work for you. turn into all-night working. Two years ago he moved to a nationwide group of 170 consultant lawyers serviced by a All emphasised the importance of self-analysis before base in Guildford with all the support systems of a embarking on a new type of career, spending time traditional , including marketing, compliance, honestly assessing personal motivations, and strengths secretarial assistance and information and case and weaknesses. They emphasised that it was essential management software – and only 20 train minutes from to be “brave”, ready to reject a course of action that Haslemere. Working from home in “what is essentially an seemed initially attractive, but was not ultimately satisfying all systems go office which is always ready for me allows in order to look for a better opportunity. me to see my youngest son’s cricket matches – as long as the clients get their work done. And clients have been very Penny Mackinder supportive because they can still deal with me but at a Penny realised that “I’m not very good at doing what I’m lower charge out rate.” In case this sounds too idyllic Ian told to do - and not very good at facilitating other people to emphasises the need for some degree of personal do what I want them to do”. What she really wanted was to organisation. “Working at home does not remove have the ability to make her own decisions and to have interruptions, they are just different interruptions.” new intellectual challenges. Her varied career has Jill Glover included working as a magistrates’ court clerk, as a sole practitioner, as a lecturer, as a consultant for small and Jill is a recent graduate of the AWS Returner Course with medium-sized firms and in order to improve her a varied career and a very flexible approach to effectiveness, obtaining an MBA. “I’ve found that my employment and family life. She is perhaps unusual in willingness to be flexible has given me the freedom to knowing relatively early on after qualification that she work flexibly while bringing up a family.” wanted to be an in-house lawyer. After five years at DLA, she spent a subsequent eight working as group legal Christina Blacklaws counsel for a FTSE 250 manufacturing company. After her This keen interest in learning was shared by all our third child was born she moved to family mediation to panellists as was a willingness to “take the next step”. obtain a greater work/life balance. Having decided that she had been “in ivory towers long But children grow up and many women find it difficult to enough studying jurisprudence”, Christina began her legal step back into the legal career that they want. Here is career in an all-woman firm in Brixton. Having overseen where the benefit of self-knowledge and analysis becomes an extensive reorganisation and expansion of that firm, clear. Jill knew that she wanted to go back in-house, but she was able to move on to the creation in 2006 of not exactly where and how. “Going on the Returner Blacklaws Davis, a hybrid practice, which by 2011 Course gave me the confidence to take on a variety of facilitated 60 consultants. Managing this project meant interim part-time in-house roles, both freelance and as an that for a short time “I moved entirely out of frontline law employed solicitor because I wanted to try different and concentrated on business development because that industries with varied responsibilities.” When Jill joined was what was needed at the time”. marketing intelligence company Ebiquity plc in March Via the Co-operative Legal Services she took her 2015 she felt she was well prepared to take on the experience of managing a law firm as a business to her substantial role of Corporate Counsel. present role as Director of Client Services in Cripps LLP. She is also one of the three Women Lawyers’ Division Dana Denis-Smith representatives on the Law Society Council, her conversations are as likely to be about the business of law Dana may be a qualified solicitor trained by , and as about its legal niceties. a journalist who has worked for The Economist, but in her heart she is really an entrepreneur. In 2010 she founded Ian Searle, who qualified in 1984, has had ample Obelisk Legal Support to provide firms with qualified and opportunity to see how the provision of legal services has experienced lawyers for short-term projects or flexible changed over the past 30 years and, like Penny, has part-time contracts in order to manage fluctuating client changed his modus operandi to “suit what suits me”. A demand. “I wanted to provide a cost-sensitive solution for banking litigator, often required to work long and clients at the same time as using the skills of good lawyers

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who for various reasons could not commit to a full-time job.” Recently Dana has taken on yet another role, as founder of the First100Years project, whose aim is to celebrate the achievements and progress of women lawyers over the past 100 years.

“You have to be passionate about what you do and be willing to take risks but you need to be prepared to work hard and to make hard decisions if you want to follow your dreams”. However dream-chasing is not enough. “You need to look at yourself objectively and ask what skills you already have and which ones you need to acquire in order to do what you really want.”

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What came first magistrate or writer? “Being a magistrate has flowed into my writing and being a writer has enabled me to contribute to the criminal justice system” So said Katharine McMahon, the author of two books set in the early 1920s when women in the legal profession were a very rare commodity.

Elizabeth Cruickshank listened to her speak at a First100Years evening – and then read “The Woman in the Picture”. Katharine’s long-standing ambition has always been to become a writer, but she “sort of sidled up” to its fulfilment because “I’m a gregarious person interested in other people and in how society operates and I knew that a writer’s life can be very isolating.” However, a varied life experience not only gave her material for her fiction, but enabled her to work out how she could be a novelist while being part of the wider world. A graduate of Bristol University, a mother, a sometime English teacher and still a participator in amateur dramatics, Katharine has now found a way to balance her creativity with “real life”.

Lying in the bath one day while expecting her second child, she read a “Cosmopolitan” article indicating that the criminal justice system had a need for young woman magistrates. She admits that one of her motivations for applying was simply to answer the question “What do magistrates talk about in the retiring room?” Indeed most of her books have arisen out of relatively simple questions, such as “What might be the relationship between two persons of contrasting dispositions?” The possible answer to this became the theme of her first novel, “The Way into the Woods”.

Research Katharine’s writing is informed by copious research, both academic and practical. For “The Rose of Sebastopol” which deals with the Crimean War, she not only read widely about the Crimean War but visited Sebastopol itself. “My intention,” she says, “is to create a fictional world that is authentic within itself and then to consider the dilemmas of fictional characters who might inhabit that world, but I would never meddle with real people and their life events”. Thus although Florence Nightingale figures in this novel the main protagonists in the novel are two cousins and not the Lady with the Lamp herself. Although Carrie Morrison, our first woman solicitor does make guest appearances in Katharine’s latest book, “The Woman in the Picture” she makes little effort to flesh out her character. “In any event it’s very hard to find out anything about her”, a comment with which after several years searching I heartily agree.

Instead we have Evelyn “The Woman in the Picture” set in 1926, the year of the General Strike, continues the story of Evelyn Gifford, supposedly one of the first cohort of female solicitors, first met in “The Crimson Rooms” as she represents three women from opposite ends of the social spectrum, the impoverished Mrs Wright and her daughter and the wealthy Annabel Petit, all apparent victims of a harsh class system and unfeeling men. Evelyn’s impulsive nature places her in real physical jeopardy, as she confronts Mrs Wright’s brutal husband and is caught up in the angry emotions of a demonstrating mob outside the country house of Annabel’s husband. She also has to cope with emotional confusion as her uncertain personal feelings interfere with her professional relationships with her senior partner, Daniel Breen and the charismatic barrister, Nicholas Thorne, whom we met in “The Crimson Rooms”.

Although to some extent the novel can be seen as a romantic story where Evelyn’s affections are turbulent and torn, Katharine’s real strength lies in depicting the helplessness of working-class women of the time, with little right to money of their own and the home they lived in, but desperate to protect their children from abusive men. The detail of her writing is even more caustic than the visual depiction of the gradual stripping away of the rights of Maud Watts in “Suffragette”. Through a series of dangerous encounters, engendered it must be admitted by Evelyn Gifford’s at times reckless nature, Katharine gives us some appreciation of the double standards operating at all levels of society – man against woman, husband against wife, employers against the working-class and shows how little they understood each other.

The courtroom However, in many ways it is Katharine’s ability to bring alive the cut and thrust of courtroom battle that distinguishes this novel. The courtroom was a very uncomfortable place for women to be in the 1920s, for after all women had had the right to be represented by other women or be judged by juries containing other women for only a few years. “You probably can’t overestimate the chauvinism of the courts during that period”, comments Katharine, because as well as using her own experiences in the magistracy, she has done her usual thorough job of research on the courts of the period. Through showing not only the words that are uttered in the courtroom by judge, defence and prosecution, but also the thought processes behind many of them, she brings the reader right into the centre of the drama.

So to return to the magistrate/writer question, the desire to write was inherent in her character from when she was a relatively young child, but the preparation and discipline required of a magistrate has supported her imagination and enabled her to write nine books of historically-based fiction since 1998. And I would imagine that her facility with words has enabled her to sum up cases and explain her decisions with clarity and precision.

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Mindfulness at Work

Is there a difference between mindfulness and meditation? What indeed is mindfulness? These were two of the questions explored in an insightful presentation given by Anna Black in September. It seems strange for the practice to be called mindfulness which implies that the mind should be full, when it is much more about being more present and more aware of the present moment rather than filling one’s mind with distracting thoughts.

The Breathing Space

The presentation started with a technique called the breathing space – and let’s face it we all need that in the busy lives that we now lead. This can be practised anywhere and at any time - even in the loo! Yes, a very convenient place to get a breathing space! It requires only a few minutes and involves closing your eyes and noticing the rhythm of your breath. When your mind starts to wander (as it will), notice the thought in a non-judgemental way and return your focus to your breath. This may be easier said than done, but like any skill it will improve with practice.

What is mindfulness?

The essence of mindfulness is to move out of the head into the body. However this does not mean you will go blank – quite the opposite. You will become more attuned to what you are feeling and thinking without allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by those thoughts and feelings. This is done by paying more attention to the present moment rather than the past and the future. This may sound contradictory, but it’s about bringing the intrusive thoughts into your awareness and then disengaging yourself from those thoughts. Although practising mindfulness can help with stress management, it has many other benefits; it can, for example, help you to become more aware of the richness of everyday life.

Useful mindfulness tips

Anna suggested several ways to practise mindfulness while following some of our daily routines.

 Showering (this is my favourite) - when you are in the shower notice your thoughts - are they about work or family issues? Notice the thoughts but then move your focus to your senses, perhaps by enjoying the smell of shower gel or the feel of the water.  Eating - slow down and savour the colour, taste, smell and texture of your food.  Walking – notice the actions of your body as you walk.  Taking a “mindful minute” – simply focus on your breath for a minute. Breathe in and out and count how many breaths you take in one minute (by the way, breathing in and out is counted as one breath). This can be very useful during a hectic day at work.

Taking it further

Various apps, such as “Headspace” can help you with mindfulness exercises. Among the many useful websites is “Be Mindful”.

Mindfulness can be an effective antidote to some stresses at work and at home – maybe you can give it a try!

AWS LONDON NEWSLETTER | Issue 4 12

Meeting the Athletic Challenge

Our vice-chair Jessica Standley recently completed the New York Marathon and in the process raised over £3000.00 for the National Association of People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC).

The reasons why

“I have always had a love/hate relationship with running. However around 18 months ago I decided to set myself the challenge of running a marathon before I turned 30. Not content with completing any marathon, I decided to run the New York Marathon on the 1st November 2015. I was cutting it fine as it fell just 7 days before my 30th!

Having represented those affected by abuse for the last 3 years, working on a variety of cases including those involving schools, hospitals, children’s homes and the Savile cases, I have seen the devastating effects that abuse can have on individuals and those close to them. Because of this I wanted to support a charity dedicated to helping those affected by abuse. I chose to run for NAPAC as they are a fantastic charity providing support for adults who have been abused in childhood, recognising that the effects of childhood abuse are long lasting and often continue to persist into adulthood.

The result

Despite being plagued with injuries I completed the training and flew out to New York on 29th October 2015. With a last minute injury I had a painful start but I am pleased to say that I completed the run in 4 hours 41 minutes 33 seconds. It was an incredible experience. Thank you to everyone who donated and supported me through the challenge. Having aimed to raise £2000, I am delighted to have raised over £3000.”

To donate and/or find out more about NAPAC please visit www.justgiving.co.uk/jessica-standley-NYCmarathon

AWS LONDON NEWSLETTER | Issue 4 13

Association of UPCOMING EVENTS

Women Solicitors London Thursday 21 January2016 Newsletter Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty All the tickets have now gone for this sparkling 74A Seven Sisters Road production at Sadlers Wells, our annual post- London, N7 6AE Christmas treat, where once again our Administrator, Linda T: 07760 272 809 Davies organised top price seats at a reduced price as a

E: linda@ awslondon.org.uk benefit for AWS London members.

Joining AWS London ensures that you obtain a discount for most of our events and priority booking for our annual special events like the ballet. If you are not already a member, you can join by downloading and completing the application form on our web-site at www.awslondon.co.uk or by contacting Linda by email at [email protected]

Wednesday 10 February 2016 AGM and Annual Dinner The elegant Hotel Russell in Bloomsbury, conveniently near to Russell Square tube station, will be our venue this year. Our after dinner speaker will be The Right Honourable Dame Margaret Hodge MP for Barking. A Labour politician, Dame Margaret has extensive and sometimes controversial experience of many different aspects of Government and Local Government.

Wednesday 27 March 2016 The Composition of Boards What exactly is the board of a company for? Sharon Constancon explains what makes a successful board and the key skills directors require. She has lectured, advised, worked for several business organisations and is now Managing Director of Valufin Ltd – among many other things!

And still in the pipeline ….. Editor: Elizabeth Cruikshank International Women's Day celebration The Role of the Public Support Unit in the Royal Courts of Justice Cocktail Making – just for a little light relief Publisher: Yasmin Morrissey A Cool Gym Work-out – to get rid of calories and frustrations Possible lunch-time events

For up-to-date details of these and other events, keep an eye on the AWS London web-site at www.awslondon.co.uk And don’t forget that the Committee welcome any comments or suggestions for future events

Sponsors Thank you to all those law firms and organisations who sponsored us in 2015 and provided venues for our events. We could not have done so much without your generous assistance.

Allen & Overy LLP, Anthony Gold, CMS Cameron McKenna LLP, Leigh Day, Lewis Silkin LLP, Radcliffe Chambers, Slater and Gordon, Stewart Title Limited, The University of Law