In 2007, the Association of Women Solicitors decided to honour the achievements of Fiona Woolf CBE, then president of the Law Society, with an annual lecture by a prestigious figure.
Fiona Woolf is a past chairwoman of the Association of Women Solicitors and an inspiring figure. At the time of writing (June 2009), she is a consultant with leading European law firm CMS Cameron McKenna; as a partner at that firm, she built an international energy and infrastructure practice working in 38 jurisdictions. Fiona is a member of the Competition Commission, an alderman of the City of London, a non-executive director of Three Valleys Water plc, a visiting professor at Harvard University, a senior adviser with London Economics International LLC and a trustee of Raleigh International. She has been awarded a CBE for her contribution to the UK knowledge economy and invisible earnings.
The first lecture, in May 2008, was naturally delivered by Fiona Woolf herself. At that lecture, Fiona challenged the AWS to explore the substantial gender pay gap revealed in the Law Society’s annual legal salary survey and to find solutions. Responding to the challenge, the AWS and the Law Society joined forced to launch a 2-year equal pay campaign to draw attention to inequalities of pay in the legal sector, explore its causes and suggest potential solutions. (Read more about AWS current campaigns here.)
In 2009 the lecture will be delivered by Professor Susan Vinnicombe. Find out more about this year’s Fiona Woolf lecture.
Innaugurated in 2009, the AWS Annual Awards seek to recognise some of the many outstanding women solicitors providing legal services. Some will be junior solicitors at the beginning of their legal career, others will be more senior. Some may work in-house in companies or government or work in private practice. What binds all these women solicitors together is that they exhibit phenomenal talent and reveal best practice in their chosen areas of practice.
The AWS wants to recognise and reward women who are or will be the role models for future women solicitors. By celebrating the success of such women solicitors the AWS wants to send out a message to the wider business community that women solicitors are successful business women managing their legal practices. Find out more about the 2009 nominations.
This
award is given to a woman who has made an outstanding, and possibly unremunerated,
contribution to the advancement of women in the law.
Eva Crawley had a remarkable impact on the legal profession, co-founding the Young Solicitors Group and the Trainee Solicitors Group, and revitalising the AWS. She was also President of North Middlesex Law Society and the Solicitors Benevolent Fund, and received an OBE for services to women solicitors. During her career, Eva also served on a Social Security Tribunal and held posts at the Police Complaints Authority, the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, the Solicitors Complaints Bureau and the Parole Board.
Without Eva Crawley and talented women like her, it is unlikely that the AWS would be supporting its members today. In 1969, when plans were afoot to wind up the AWS, Eva pointed out that the Association was still very much needed. She, Rosalind Bax and other members of her hard-working committee reinvigorated the AWS, encouraging women solicitors to aspire high and help each other along the way. A mentoring scheme and maternity helpline were suggested, and Eva initially ran these services from her kitchen table. Another success was the Returner Course held every year at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge aimed at helping women and men back into the law after a career break.
The first award was fittingly presented to Eva herself by Cherie Booth QC at the 75th AWS Anniversary Dinner in 1998. Since then Alison Parkinson, Geraldine Cotton and Elizabeth Cruickshank have also received the award for their exemplary contribution to the progress of women solicitors.
This award is given to a woman who has made a remarkable contribution to the legal profession throughout her lifetime.
Rosalind Bax received this award at the AWS Annual Dinner in 2006. The first female equity partner in a City law firm, Rosalind broke through one of the toughest glass ceilings. Throughout her career she was proactive in helping women solicitors, through the AWS and beyond.
