Rachael Goodall highlights the impact of COVID-19 on women at the Bar for Counsel magazine

11th November 2020

Counsel magazine has featured 3PB’s specialist family law barrister - and Chair of the Western Circuit Women’s Forum (WCWF) - Rachael Goodall has set out the WCWF’s proposals to mitigate the threat of significant and disproportionate attrition of women from the Bar due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In Back to the Bar 2019, the Western Circuit’s Women’s Forum (WCWF) published evidence showing that two-thirds of those who left the Bar over a six-year period were women. Almost all the men who left became judges or retired after long careers. The vast majority of the women barristers who left the profession had dropped out mid-career, citing the difficulty of balancing work and family life.

Today, COVID-19 working practices threaten further significant and disproportionate attrition of women from the Bar. The WCWF’s concern focuses on the demands on primary carers, who are disproportionately women.

In this article for Counsel magazine, Rachael Goodall highlights those risks and recommends practical steps to minimise them.

To read the full article please click here.