2021年已过半有余，大中华区律所延续了相当的活跃度——表现之一即各所雄心勃勃的人才计划，包括新一轮的内部合伙人晋升。
仔细查看上半年多家律师事务所的内部合伙人晋升结果，会发现有相当比例的女性律师受到提拔，例如，金杜律师事务所4月份公布的32位新晋升合伙人中，女律师达17位；安理国际律师事务所5月在大中华区晋升的三位合伙人中有两位是女性；年利达律师事务所今年4月新任命的35位合伙人中有14位是女性，满足该所最新制定的“合伙人晋升选举中女性律师占比至少要达到百分之40”的规定，此外，该所新任命的三位全球合伙人董事会成员中有两位是女律师，其中包括驻北京合伙人纪晓晖，纪律师还将出任该所的亚洲代表。
作为年利达新晋合伙人之一的杨佩君律师（Iris Yeung）对大中华区女性律师的崛起感到欣喜。她告诉ALB，这一崛起的一个重要原因是女性律师的努力与才能得到愈加广泛的认可，此外，越来越多律所也认识到了留住女性法律人才的必要性，并愿意营造性别平等的律所文化，为女律师创造更多的发展机遇。
以年利达的“百分之40”新规为例，杨律师告诉ALB，这一目标的设立有助于聚焦领导层的注意力，激励他们在性别平等、多元化、包容性方面做出更多、更好的实际行动。
“设立这一数字，并不意味着为了达标而达标。我们的最终目的在于将合适的人才放到合适的位置，给予其充分施展才能的机会。性别多元化能帮助女律师获得她们应得的机会，而律所也可以借此拓宽专业人才储备，”杨律师说。
除了合伙人晋升方面的支持，年利达还发起“女性领导力项目”，鼓励女性成长为律所领导者，确保有更多的女性成为下一代年轻律师的导师与楷模，而律所也能从中获益，拥抱更多元化的领导风格。
尽管女性律师的崛起之势令人欣喜，但真正的性别平等尚未完全实现。宾夕法尼亚大学法学院国际事务副院长Rangita de Silva de Alwis及其学生Ziguo Yang的一项研究显示，中国女性法律从业者在职业发展中仍然面临着来自社会期望的阻力——比起追求事业，女性似乎被认为更应该去生育子女。
杨律师也承认这一偏见的存在。因此，她提出，律所若要实现真正的性别平等，还需要自上而下的贯彻。
“你可以在律所制定很多政策、执行很多项目，但如果律所领导者并非打心眼里认同性别平等的理念，那么这些努力都将收效甚微。相反，一个多元化、具有包容性的领导团队能保证每个人都能获得与其匹配的机会，这意味着积极地采取行动去支持那些一开始就处于劣势的人，”杨律师说。
China’s female lawyers are growing in prominence, but inherent career-track limitations remain
If you take a look at the partner promotions results announced by law firms in China during the first half of 2021, you can see a considerable proportion of female lawyers among them. For example, of the 32 partner promotions announced by Sino-Australian firm King & Wood Mallesons, 17 are women. In April, Linklaters made up 14 female partners, which hit the firm’s newly set target of achieving a 40 percent gender balance in a 35-strong promotions round. The firm also named Beijing partner Ji Xiaohui to its global partnership board, as well as the firm’s Asia representative. Fellow Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy’s named three new partners, of whom two were women.
Iris Yeung, one of the newly promoted female partners at Linklaters, tells ALB that not only are the hard work and achievements of female lawyers being more widely recognized, but an increasing number of firms are realising the importance of retaining female legal talents, and taking action to emphasise gender equality in firm culture, thereby creating more opportunities for career development.
Take Linklaters’ new “40 percent” rule as an example. Yeung tells ALB that setting such targets for senior positions helps to focus the attention of leadership, and pushes them to do better.
“Setting targets does not mean that those are to be met no matter what. We are focused on promoting the right people for the right roles so that we can enlarge the know-how pool,” Yeung says.
In addition to partnership promotions, Linklaters has developed bespoke talent programmes to create a “sustainable pipeline” of diverse talent for leadership roles, including its flagship Women’s Leadership Programme, which aims to ensure that there is greater proportion of women leaders acting as role models and mentors for the next generation.
However, despite the rise of female lawyers, there is still a distance to complete gender equality. According to a study conducted by Rangita de Silva de Alwis, associate dean of international affairs at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her student Ziguo Yang, the biggest headwind that professional women in China face in advancing their careers is society’s expectations when it comes to child-bearing. Yeung acknowledges the existence of such prejudice in the legal industry, and believes that fostering a gender-inclusive work environment should start at the top.
“You can implement many policies and programmes, but if the leaders of the organisation don’t genuinely foster and role-model inclusion in real life, those will fail. On the contrary, a diverse and inclusive leadership will make sure that everyone gets access to those roles – and this will invariably mean taking positive steps and action to support those who start at a disadvantage,” Yeung says.
To contact the editorial team, please email ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.com.
