Legal

Efforts to bridge gender pay gap in Irish law firms just ‘window dressing’, says Dentons chief

Eavan Saunders says that there are a ‘pitiful’ number of women at equity partner level in Irish firms

Eavan Saunders, managing partner of Denton’s Dublin office and country head of Ireland: there are ‘structural difficulties’ preventing women from getting to equity level in law firms in Ireland. Picture: Bryan Meade

Attempts to rectify gender pay gaps within Irish law firms has involved “a lot of window dressing”, the managing partner at Dentons has said.

Eavan Saunders, who founded Dentons’ Dublin office in 2020 and is country head for Ireland, said there was a “pitiful” number of women at equity partner level in a number of large Irish law firms.

Saunders, who leads a team of nearly 30 lawyers, most of whom came from big firms, ...