One of Scotland’s leading law firms has ambitious plans. New chairman Jennifer Young talks to our reporter. JENNIFER YOUNG cheerfully admits she talks a lot – but insists she also puts enormous value on listening. The new chairman at Ledingham Chalmers LLP is that rare creature, a female in a senior position in a Scottish law firm. For a good talker, she iADVERTISEMENTs unusually quiet on the subject of why she is joining a little-spotted species.
“I just don’t know,” she says. “I’ve never experienced anything to suggest a particular reason for it happening. It might be a generational thing (as the women coming into the profession outnumber the men] and take time. The next generation could be the one to show the real difference.”
However, Young recalls, as a trainee with Dundas & Wilson 20 years ago she was one of ten women in an intake of 13. Has she met anything she would describe as sexism in the profession? “It is not something I have encountered at all. Women can be their own harshest critics, but the right sort of attitude, enthusiasm and energy go a long way.”
Young, 42, has enthusiasm and energy in spades, and is confident she can balance the additional demands of being chairman with her “day job” as a construction lawyer and her family. She is married to quantity surveyor Malcolm and they have a three-year-old son Lucas – and she is very clear about the enormous significance of work-life balance: “At Ledingham Chalmers, we expect people to work very hard when they have to – but it is not all about living to work. That is certainly something I aspire to.
“I’m lucky because I have a lot of family support – and I have a very supportive partner and a supportive firm. I am very organised – my list-making and occasional control-freakishness are a standing joke at the firm. I work hard to keep the balance the best I can. Family time is important and I do everything I can to protect that and work around things. But I’m female – I can multitask.”
Lorna Jack, chief executive of the Law Society, says the lack of women in senior positions in the profession is an issue of continuing debate, adding: “There are many and complex reasons, including the lack of flexible working options, personal choices made in balancing work and family life, and the professions which can be very demanding on people’s time and energy.
“Employers have to take notice of the increasing number of ambitious women choosing to enter the legal profession and plan accordingly to avoid losing talented individuals from their business. The society is committed to its ongoing equality and diversity work, encouraging and supporting best practice, and to monitoring the changing profile of the profession. A new four-year equality plan in December will set out further work to tackle issues around progression.”
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