Objectives
In 2019, BLC were brought in to ramp up PR for the First 100 Years campaign and position it as central to celebrations around the centenary of the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, which paved the way for women to become lawyers for the first time. The campaign aimed to promote the legacy of the first female legal pioneers, shine a light on the barriers women in law face, and set out a vision for change.
Since then, BLC has continued working with the charity as pro bono PR partners. Initially we sought to capitalise on the success of the First 100 Years campaign to reposition the charity as the Next 100 Years, a force for more rapid change towards equality in the legal profession.
In the years that followed our work has been aimed at ensuring the charity and its founder, Dana Denis-Smith OBE, are a leading authority on diversity and equality in the legal profession as well as supporting the project to improve the visibility of women in law, educate the sector on pioneering women, past and present, and celebrate further milestones.
What we did:
The First 100 Years
The First 100 Years was founded by Dana to chart the journey of women in law in since the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. The five-year project culminated with celebrations marking the centenary in 2019.
The charity had built up a digital library of short biographical films documenting the journey of women in the legal profession over the last 100 years. In 2019 the project wanted to move beyond showcasing legal ‘stars’ and begin affecting real change in the profession, helping to shape an environment that enables female lawyers of the future to progress.
We undertook a number of initiatives, including devising a research project aimed at gaining an in-depth insight into the challenges women in law face. Women across the legal profession were asked about their working lives and the result was a hard-hitting story that exposed the inequality still present in the profession. By bringing in respondents willing to go on the record with their stories, alongside friend of the project, Cherie Booth KC, we were able to secure a Woman’s Hour slot on BBC Radio 4 with a whole programme devoted to a discussion of women in law with the First 100 Years project front and centre of the debate. Further survey coverage followed in The Independent, Law Society Gazette, Solicitors Journal and other legal titles.
In addition, we promoted a range of key events and First 100 Years ‘products’ throughout the year. This included an International Women’s Day photography event, a book, films featuring interviews with pioneering women lawyers, a podcast series and the commissioning and unveiling of an artwork at the Supreme Court – the first to feature a woman – which was covered by BBC News, amongst others.
Significant coverage was achieved across legal, national, regional and broadcast media, making the First 100 Years the preeminent voice in centenary celebrations and reaching beyond the legal profession to the wider public.
2019 saw the charity increase both donations and sponsorships significantly.
The Next 100 Years
After the success of the centenary campaign, in 2020 BLC were asked to continue working with the charity as it launched the Next 100 Years, a project dedicated to achieving equality for women in law.
Following the response to the women in law study we continued to track sentiment on a range of topics, gaining insight into different aspects of women in law’s working lives and law firms’ progress on equality. This included examining the impact of the lockdown at the height of the Covid pandemic, the gender pay gap, the effectiveness of law firms’ diversity initiatives and the impact of caring responsibilities on women’s careers.
The research made headlines across the national and legal media and provided opinion forming data that has helped to shape the conversation around how to achieve progress in the profession as well as positioning the Next 100 Years and founder Dana Denis-Smith as a leading voice in the diversity and inclusion space.
We promoted further biographical films showcasing the profession’s new female ‘firsts’ and launched an annual lecture series – the Heilbron Lectures – aimed at improving the visibility of women in law which we continue to support alongside the project’s annual Inspirational Women in Law Awards.
From 2020 to 2024 hundreds of pieces of coverage were achieved across legal, national and regional media. BLC continues to work with the Next 100 Years on research, thought leadership and event publicity, ensuring the campaign remains at the forefront of the conversation on how we achieve equality for women in law.
