"THERE IS A PLACE FOR US"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 153, 29 May 1942, Page 16

"THERE IS A PLACE FOR US"

Women In The Legal World

HAT there is little or no scope for women in the legal profession was the opinion of a woman barrister and solicitor whose opinions appeared in "The Listener" of April 17. We have received the following reply from a South Island reader, who is convinced that the law as a profession is perhaps even more suited to women than it is to men

\ X J OMEN judges? Well, they abound in Turkey, Russia and U.S.A., which speaks for itself. But in New Zealand, restricted as we are to a judicature of nine wise men, I have to admit there is not much scope. Anyway, we can’t become Big Wigs overnight. First, we have to establish ourselves in the practice of law, and it is there we make fitting fixtures. Don’t imagine a successful lawyer is necessarily some oratorical genius who makes frequent Court appearances in pin-striped trousers. A case is often won in Court, but more often in its preparation, and a woman is endowed by Nature with qualities that well equip her for this all-important preliminary work of preparation for trial. {n the first place, she is curious. No one denies it. And her innate desire to know what’s what urges her to pursue with eagerness the pages of those huge legal tomes. She gives more attention to detail than her male counterpart, who is inclined to overlook that small point which may well prove to be the vital one, Besides which, she has patience, and a preference for being on the right side, both of which keep her at it until she has what we all dream aboyt — a watertight case.

If she does prefer the limelight of the Court, there, too,’ she ean make a confident entrance. It is a well-known fact that she can hold her own in any argument, so why not a legal one? To-day, a Court of Law is more concerned with getting down .to business than with flights of eloquence, and that cool, clear voice of hers confined to facts will work wonders. Pit her wits against the forensic fluency of some aggressive male with a debating cup up his sleeve, and the odds are still with her. Spot the Lady And there’s the story of the Lady Barrister and the Kindly Judge. Being large-minded and an upholder of the cause of ae he felt that the fragile ee the squeaky voice and the d blue eye would need all his help, as a robust and fierce-looking individual who cross-examined with effect and delivered a pointed legal argument was representing the Defendant. So every now and then he gave the mild blue eye a leg-up. When the Court adjourned, the Judge’s clerk expressed a view that he had been rather hard on the Lady Barrister. The Judge angrily inquired what the clerk meant, and learned, too (Continued on next page)

WOMEN AS LAWYERS (Continued from previous page) late, that he had been misled by appearances, for the mild blue eye was a young man who had steered the University Eight to victory, and the fiercelooking counsel for the defendant was a Miss Mary Poppleton. But happily, no harm was done, for Miss Mary Poppleton promptly went to the Court of Appeal and had an easy win. The moral being, of course, to "spot the lady." There is routine work. Forms flow in from the font of bureaucracy, and the month of May may not be a merry one as we struggle with so much Government paper in the shape of anything from income tax returns to hotel licences. Here again, our patience enables us to see the thing through with a smile. And certainly we may be permitted a smile as our eyes alight on our male colleagues in a whirl of disorder, losing. papers and throwing files into confusion, a knack they have which appears to be their own special privilege. But there is no brief for boredom. People and their problems keep you very wide awake. Even a simple inquiry may be someone’s big problem, and a woman by her natural sympathy and understanding can supply good value for any fee. It Takes a Woman And that branch of law dealing with husband and wife! It takes a woman to understand another woman whether she is engaged upon a straight-out household struggle or an all-out offensive in the Divorce Court. Surely it is only reasonable that we be encouraged to use our exclusive knowledge of our own sex for (inter alia), pacific purposes. War creates many problems, not the least of them matrimonial, and it can well be expected that post-war planning will produce an expansion of our Conciliation Courts; and greater opportunity for active female participation in this direction. A final exhortation. Don’t you believe there is no future in the law. The Public Trustee may have a coveting eye, but he is becoming a very old bogy. Rather believe that under America’s surveillance we shall see a development in female education. So a timely tip to women is to seize all opportunities in those lily white but capable hands of yours. Or maybe those 1,700 woman lawyers in America will jump your claim, | pon "| )