For this week’s ‘Women in Law Wednesday’, we reached out to former GCU Law student and Operations Manager of the Law Clinic, Patricia Taylor. As part of the project, it is important to us that we are celebrating women at all stages of their journey in the legal profession. It therefore made sense for us to approach Patricia to find out where she is now after leaving GCU and the Law Clinic and ask for her thoughts on Women in Law…
After gaining a First Class Honours in the LLB, Patricia undertook the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow. She is now over halfway through her traineeship with the international firm DWF, currently sitting in the Commercial Litigation department. Alongside this, Patricia is a committee member of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association and a mentor under the Law Society of Scotland’s Mentoring Scheme (links to both will be at the end of the blog).
As part of the ‘Women in Law’ project we hope to inspire young women who are embarking on their journey into the legal profession. We therefore wanted to ask Patricia if there were any moments throughout her studies or current career that particularly inspired her. Responding to this question, Patricia explains, “If you’d have told me seven years ago, when I was but a nervous first year (carrying around ‘Woolman on Contract’ like it was another limb), that I’d now be a year away from becoming a solicitor in a commercial firm, I’d probably have had to thoroughly google what that would even entail.” She goes on however, ‘A second year lecture on corporate law peaked that interest, and was funnily enough delivered by GCU [Law Clinic’s] ‘Woman in Law’ [two weeks ago], Claire McFadzean. Claire’s practical insights, humorous quips, and indeed honesty, as to the realities of the commercial world, meant that this is a career I’ve been pursuing ever since’. Firstly, I believe that there may not be a Law student that cannot relate to the image of being that scared 1st year. Secondly, Patricia gaining inspiration from our Academic Director (a theme we may see recurring) encapsulates the spirit of the project perfectly. Patricia then went on to praise her family, “my Mum and Gran actively placed no limits on what I could become, regardless of my background or gender.” She qualifies this by pointing out another recurring theme within the project that, “ultimately, it is easier said than done, and our sector has some way to go in embodying that message itself, but I do (and must) believe that we will get there”. Something I am sure we can all agree on.
This leads on to the next question that we put to Patricia, ‘Has there ever been a point in your degree or career where you have felt that being a woman has disadvantaged you’. She gave a very profound answer, “At a recent roundtable discussion, we examined the Law Society of Scotland’s publication, ‘Profile of the Profession’. This uncovered statistics relating to the issue (amongst others) of unconscious bias, which continues to pose a prevalent issue within the legal sphere. Although I do not feel that being a woman has disadvantaged me in my career so far, this is not cause for complacency, for I am one of the lucky ones. Further, I appreciate that I am a “small fish in a big pond”; aware that the age-old glass-ceiling may very well present itself in the face of my progression.” She finishes her answer with a hopeful message, “I do believe, however, that the tide is shifting. Encouragingly, conversations on these issues are increasing, as is awareness and activism for change”. The message that Patricia is sending here is a very important one: just because it isn’t directly affecting you presently, does not mean it is not there or does not affect other people. We hope to continue the conversation that she speaks of through this project.
Finally, as we will ask all of our interviewees in this series, we found out what being a Woman in Law means to Patricia. “Being a trainee solicitor is a privilege in its own right, additionally so, when I consider being a woman in law. I recently attended the Law Society’s Annual Conference, where a speaker remarked that we, as women in law in 2019, are “standing on the shoulders of giants.” It reminded me of the following by Rupi Kaur: “I stand on the sacrifices of a million women before me, thinking, what can I do to make this mountain taller, so that the women after me, can see farther?”. And frankly, we, men and women alike, cannot let them down.”
We thank Patricia for her valuable contribution to the project and we hope that reading her insights into the topic and about her career has inspired other LLB students hoping to follow along the same path.
Lucy Mackay, Projects Manager, LLB3
Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association upcoming events: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/scottish-young-lawyers-association-1867524801
Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association website: http://www.syla.co.uk/
Law Society of Scotland Mentoring Scheme: https://www.lawscot.org.uk/members/career-growth/mentoring/