Legal

Gender data proposal dropped from Bar Council policy to support women barristers

The policy aims to address under-representation of women in certain practice areas, and the fact that just 20 per cent of senior counsel are women

Rossa Fanning, the Attorney General: launched the gender reporting policy nearly a year ago with David Barniville, president of the High Court. Picture: Naoise Culhane

A proposal for law firms to report gender data to the Bar Council has been dropped from an initiative which seeks to encourage fairer distribution of work to female barristers.

The move comes after none of the largest law firms in Ireland, including all of so-called ‘big six’ law firms, signed up to the equitable briefing policy. These include McCann Fitzgerald, Matheson, A&L Goodbody, Mason Hayes & Curran, (MHC), Arthur Cox, and William Fry.

The ...