Women In The Law - A Centenary Celebration!
As The Hon Samantha Sacramento, Minister for Justice and Equality said, it has taken a woman Justice Minister to create an event for all the women lawyers at the Gibraltar Bar! The event celebrates 100 years since the very first woman lawyer was called. Mrs Donna Seruya Sackman a Lawyer herself and one of the first few women to be called in Gibraltar’s history, generously sponsored the dinner which was hosted by the University of Gibraltar.
I found out from the Minister of Justice’s team who had helped organise the event, that I am the 21st woman to be called to the Gibraltar Bar in Gibraltar’s history! When you think that I was called in March of 1999, really it is quite shocking that so few women had preceded me. Women lawyers are still underrepresented at Partnership tables in the larger law firms in Gibraltar. Gibraltar has currently only one female Minister in its Government- Minister Sacramento. Gibraltar has never celebrated a female Chief Minister. There is definitely a long way to go before we can say that Gibraltar is about ‘equal opportunities’ in the legal field. It is one of the reasons that I set up my own firm, Amber Law- to blaze my own trail on my own terms!
The Speakers at the event were the Justice Minister, Mrs Seruya and the only woman Justice of Gibraltar’s Courts, Justice Karen Ramagge Prescott. Justice Ramagge Prescott shared very authentically and vividly, her experience juggling her own personal wellbeing, her family (she is the mother of two) and her professional responsibilities.
Will it take another 100 years for Gibraltar’s women lawyers to celebrate a get together? I hope not!
