In a column for the NZ Herald published on Sunday Dame Deborah Chambers KC argues that while New Zealand’s legal profession has made immense strides away from historical sameness, systemic barriers regarding elite briefs, harassment, and work-life balance remain.
To illustrate the transformation of the legal sector, Chambers points to the memoir That Woman by Dame Silvia Cartwright. Cartwright was one of only two women in her Otago law class during the 1960s, later becoming the first woman judge of the High Court in 1993.
Cartwright secured her first law clerk job over 10 other applicants on lower pay than male peers, with employers remarking that she was hired because she had the best legs, Chambers notes in the NZ Herald. With the court robing room restricted to men, female lawyers originally changed in the restroom.
When Chambers entered the profession in 1983, the environment remained hostile. She joined a firm that maintained an unwritten policy barring women from partnership, forcing her to move through multiple firms where partnership was either nonexistent for women or restricted to those entirely devoted to the job without children, according to the NZ Herald.
The modern legal landscape bears little resemblance to those exclusionary decades, as women now lead courts, manage major firms, and populate the New Zealand Law Society. Pip Muir, chair of Simpson Grierson, said that when she made partner in the late 1980s, only three of the firm’s 40 partners were women, whereas today 40% of the firm’s partners are women, the NZ Herald reported.
This shift was driven largely by women excelling at their work and a steady influx of female law graduates making up half of the incoming talent pool. Advocacy groups such as the Auckland Women Lawyers Association amplified voices when individual practitioners could not safely speak out.
Despite these gains, Chambers highlights uneven progress in commercial litigation, where major briefs and leadership opportunities in higher courts still disproportionately favor men. Harassment persists, as young women remain hesitant to report misconduct due to career anxiety, pointing to structural flaws in the current Law Society process.
Parallel shifts are transforming the rank of King’s Counsel, historically dominated by white practitioners. The appointment of Matanuku Mahuika KC and Isaac Hikaka KC reflects a move toward silks that mirror the diversity of the community they serve, Chambers writes in the NZ Herald.
While young women entering the profession face significantly less discrimination than earlier generations, grueling private-practice hours continue to push many talented lawyers into in-house or government roles. Chambers concludes that while the profession has traveled a long way, it has not yet fully arrived.
