Going it alone: driving change for senior female lawyers
I have worked in recruitment for almost 15 years with a well-known and very well-respected London agency. But recently I realised my focus has shifted to working with female lawyers and with law firms who were keen to address the diversity issue within their team.
Increasingly this has become a passion for me. I realised what I wanted was to help female and diverse lawyers not only recognise their own potential but also fulfil it. I have never been in it for the short-term. I build relationships with lawyers that last; it’s not just about finding them a new firm and moving on.
Only 27% of female lawyers reach partner level
I had an idea about how I wanted to do this. I knew I needed the time to devote to these relationships. I wanted to understand what motivates my candidates in order to find them the right home. If indeed they decide to move at all! I became more and more convinced that I wanted to go it alone, to recruit in my own way and to help drive diversity.
Introducing Norah Durrant Recruitment – supporting senior female lawyers
And so here it is – Norah Durrant Recruitment or NDR for short. It’s just me. NDR is where I can really pursue my values of integrity, honesty and effectiveness.
A lot of people have asked me, ‘why now?’ A phrase I have repeatedly used on LinkedIn over the past year is ‘now is the time’. The post-Covid world is different. It’s time for a reset, pause, reflection and now is the time to build back better. We have learnt so much through this period and I genuinely feel that now is the time for things to change.
Diversity in recruitment
More and more of my clients are insisting on a focus on diversity in recruitment. They recognise that diversity matters. It affects everything in a positive way from moral outlook to retention rates and profitability.
Plus, my female candidates are demanding more. They want and need a seat at the table to really effect change. There is a sobering statistic which you may be familiar with. At entry level into the legal profession, 60% of lawyers are female. This drops to 27% at partner level. Some firms are way below that. Now is the time to change that. NDR wants to play a part in driving that change.
I’m in a new, exciting and challenging place. Does that sound like somewhere you’d like to be too? I’ll keep you posted on what taking the plunge is really like.
Best wishes,
Norah