"Firms push ahead with female equity partnerships", 1 Jul 2016

A handful of law firms has broken ranks with the rest of the profession and dramatically increased the number of women in their most senior positions — ­equity partnerships.

In the past five years, the ­proportion of female equity partners at these firms has at least doubled while there has been little or no change at many of their competitors.

The biggest improvement has been at, which has transformed the gender balance of its partnership over the past five years.

In July 2011, just 4.2 per cent of…[TressCox Lawyers] equity partners were ­female. Today’s survey shows that that figure is now 23.5 per cent…

While TressCox had no policy favouring women,…[its executive chairman] attributed the rapid change in the make-up of the partnership to the firm’s positive approach to diversity.

…[M]ost firms surveyed by The Australian…have equity partnerships that are on average just 18.2 per cent female, slightly up from last year’s figure of 17.7 per cent…

[The survey] revealed that over the past five years, some of the biggest increases in the proportion of ­female equity partners have taken place at…Norton Rose Fulbright, DLA Piper and Allens…

Emma Warren from Allens said…clients now expected their suppliers of legal services to pay attention to gender and diversity issues…