Women have to give 120% to prove themselves in legal profession: Justice Prathiba M Singh at SILF Lady Lawyers Day event

The environment in the legal profession is such that women still have to go above and beyond to prove themselves, Delhi High Court judge Justice Prathiba M Singh said on Saturday..Justice Singh made the observation while rendering the inaugural address at an event organised by the Ladies Group of the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) to celebrate Lady Lawyers Day.“The environment in the legal profession is that women have to give 120% to prove themselves. It is not enough to do 100%... In negotiations, women tend to be shouted down more easily. I am sure corporate firms could fix this. (With) Judges as well as opposing lawyers – there are three kinds of treatment you could get in courts. One is very very encouraging treatment, one is patronising treatment and the other is chauvinistic treatment. But we face all of this with a smile,” Justice Singh said..She added that while it is easy to stereotype women and although sometimes women themselves impede their own growth, a woman can be successful in her career if she is competent and shows integrity.“Competence beats everything. If you are competent and you show integrity, there is nothing that can stop you,” Justice Singh commented.Her speech also saw the sitting High Court judge pay tribute to the contributions of great men who helped in paving the way for the progress of women lawyers in India.“The journey of women lawyers in India and the success achieved by them is owed to great men, one of whom deserves mention today – Sri Madhusudan Das fondly known as Madhu Babu. He played a significant role in the entry of women into the legal profession. It was due to his determination and desire to see his daughter practice as a lawyer that the Legal Practitioner’s Act was amended thereby allowing women to enter the courts of law. Till date, his birth anniversary, 28th April, is celebrated as lawyers day in Odisha,” Justice Singh observed.The judge also raised concern over the low percentages of women in law, in governance as well as when it comes to education and research. She said that inventions by women inventors often go unnoticed and referred to a WIPO report that said that less than 3-4% of patents are filed by women.It is also documented that the Nobel Committee ignores women when it comes to the Nobel Prize, she added.Referring to an answer to a Lok Sabha question in 2022, she further observed that on a national average, the number of women lawyers is as low as 15%.“Some of the biggest States have less than 8-13% of women who are enrolled as lawyers. There is a huge disparity here. Though our law colleges have more than 50% women, and most of the toppers in law colleges are girls – why is it that enrolments are so low?” she remarked.She went on to note that there are social and cultural reasons for this, including the lack of facilities in courts.“Even today women lawyers struggle to practice in courts except in the major metros. There are insufficient facilities for women in most courts in the country. The recent incident of a district court complex getting a washroom only after the intervention of the Supreme Court is a case in point,” she said.As she concluded her address she urged women lawyers to showcase the good work they do, to embrace technology and to get help with domestic or mundane tasks without guilt.“Choose your battles wisely. You don’t need to fight with everybody or react to everything. Wear everything with a smile and it just goes away. Professionally, make a first good impression. Never seek sympathy or pity from anyone,” she said..Senior Advocate Fali Nariman also gave a special address at the event. .Zia Mody, Managing Partner at AZB and Chairperson of the SILF Ladies Group kickstarted the inaugural ceremony, which was followed by a Panel Discussion on "Do women need empowerment?".The Panel discussion, moderated by Shweta Bharti, Senior Partner at Hammurabi & Solomon Partners, saw the participation of Senior Advocate Indira Jaising; Vani Mehta, General Counsel, South Asia at GE; Amita Katragadda, Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; Pallavi Saluja, Editor at Bar & Bench; Shilpa Bhasin Mehra, Head of Legal at AMEA SVITZER; and Monica Behura, Editor at Economic Times Legal. .The Presidential address at the function was rendered by Dr. Lalit Bhasin, President of SILF, who informed that there were plans to institutionalise and celebrate Lady Lawyers Day every year."I think there is a big responsibility on the ladies group to take up issues and fight for your rights, in a legitimate, legal manner," he added. .A message from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also read out at the event. .The Welcome Address saw Rohit Kochhar, Secretary of SILF, observing that women empowerment is about harnessing the power of collective humanity so that every human regardless of gender is a force of human rights.Member of the Supreme Court Gender Sensitisation Committee, Nina Gupta compered the event. Jyoti Sagar Associate President of SILF gave the concluding remarks for the inaugural session, while the vote of thanks was rendered by Manisha Singh, Managing Partner of Lex Orbis.