Dear Rookie Advocate,
This year’s International Women’s Day United Nations theme DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality could not be more apt. This theme makes a rallying call to have everyone pay closer attention to the need for inclusive and transformative technology and to improve digital literacy among women and girls. What does this mean for you as a Lawyer? Do lawyers, especially young female lawyers, need digital literacy and more specifically #LegalTech literacy?! As an unrepentant #LegalTech and Innovation Enthusiast, I say that they most certainly do!
In 2021, the International Bar Association (IBA) Legal Policy and Research Unit (LPRU) launched the 50:50 by 2030 – A Longitudinal Study into Gender Disparity in Law project. The nine-year global study, across 16 jurisdictions including Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa, aims at establishing the causes of gender inequality at senior levels of the profession. The England and Wales pilot study found that even though female lawyers make up 51% of all lawyers in the jurisdiction, only 31% of lawyers in senior roles are female. The pilot study further found that flexible working arrangements are the most popular gender equality initiative and that they are perceived to be the most effective.
Flexible working arrangements allow lawyers to work remotely, that is, from home or any other convenient location away from the traditional office. To achieve success in a flexible working initiative, lawyers would need to know how to exploit digital tools for communication and collaboration and #LegalTech tools for automating their work, legal research and delivering services to Clients. This initiative is especially beneficial for female lawyers whose career trajectory is at risk of falling behind due to taking breaks to care for family members and children.
However, digital literacy levels among women are generally low. If flexible working is indeed the most effective way to achieve gender equity in the profession then female lawyers will need to improve their digital literacy and acquire even a basic understanding of what #LegalTech is and what tools would be most appropriate for their context. Digital transformation in the legal industry is inevitable and is already well advanced in a number of jurisdictions around the world.
Here is my rallying call to female lawyers: Let’s take #LegalTech off the back burner! Let’s get literate! Let’s get that competitive edge that keeps us in the game!
Happy Women’s Day!
Emmanuela
