SMW attends Women in Criminal Law's 6th Birthday

Sonn MacMillan Walker enjoyed a fantastic evening celebrating Women in Criminal Law’s 6th Birthday.

SMW were a founding sponsor of WICL and have continued to sponsor the organisation every year since. We have had a table at every Birthday dinner event inviting guests to join us in celebrating WICL’s achievements.

WICL is an organisation which looks to promote, support and encourage women working in the criminal justice system. With a high proportion of our employees at SMW being female it’s an organisation that as a firm we are proud to be aligned with.

I was honoured to be asked to introduce the speakers at WICL’s launch event in 2018 and have since become head of mentoring and one of the vice chairs. My involvement has included planning various events and being integral in creating our judicial mentoring circles scheme. These mentoring groups involve women from various firms and chambers being introduced to each other to form a group, headed by a Judge, to offer each other circular mentoring. The principle being that we can all learn from each other regardless of our level of experience.

Events I have been involved in have included mentoring breakfasts which give WICL members an opportunity to meet before the start of a working day for mentoring and networking. I’ve been involved in our annual pupillage event offering advice to future pupils from current practising barristers, a part time appointments event offering members that may be looking for part time judicial appointments tips and advice, and our annual advent calendar when prizes are available to be won by our members every working in December.

Lady Chief Justice Carr giving her speech

The Birthday dinner events are a real highlight of the year celebrating the organisations achievements. The atmosphere is always welcoming and supportive, just as are all our events. This year was no exception and included a speech from Lady Chief Justice Carr, the first female to have been appointed to this role. It was inspiring to hear her speak about other significant women in the profession over the years, and the progress that has been made.