An Asian mosaic

May 15, 2019

Source: https://www.vantageasia.com/

Senior women lawyers across Asia share personal stories of successes, struggles and strategies for a more inclusive legal profession. Vandana Chatlani reports

The women profiled in this article have worked in-house, in private practice, in court and in the judiciary. They also share another common factor – seniority. To see women lawyers in positions of leadership in Asia is inspiring, but perhaps misleading to some extent, as they do not represent the norm.

In 2016, Grace Yeoh was the first woman in 100 years to be appointed managing partner at Shearn Delamore in Kuala Lumpur; Singapore-based Rebecca Chew was the first woman in Rajah & Tann’s history to hold the deputy managing partner position; and last year, Melissa Kaye Pang became the first women president of the Hong Kong Law Society in its 110-year history.

Although these are exceptional achievements, the fact that we are still counting and celebrating firsts suggests that the profession needs to do more to create a new narrative where women leaders are no longer a rarity.

“Unfortunately, very little has changed,” says Lin Shi, president of the Association of Corporate Counsel in Hong Kong. “There’s a lot of rhetoric and a lot of events focusing on diversity programmes. But when it comes down to it, what kind of accommodations are you providing? What kind of incentives are you giving to male staff to shoulder their half of the housework and caregiving? Until that happens, this work will still fall upon women.”

Before analyzing the experience of women lawyers in Asia, it is crucial to acknowledge their diverse, complex and multiple realities in a region divided by language, economics, politics, history, religion, geography, tradition and sociocultural codes.

The different trajectories in terms of legal sector development across Asia also affect opportunities for women.

“Myanmar was in the dark for so many years and sanctions were only lifted recently, so there’s a gap in terms of lawyers,” says Hanim Hamzah, the regional managing partner of Zico Law Network. “At some point they only had lawyers in their 60s and 70s, because for a long time there were no law schools under the military junta government. So it’s not just gender, but the availability of talent that’s an issue.”

Brunei provides another example where opportunities for women are slim because of political and cultural norms. “The Bruneians are generally well-educated and want to participate, but the market is small,” says Hamzah. “It’s a population of 400,000 people. Of that, 200 are lawyers; 100 work for the sultan and only 100 go to private practice. Most of those involved are men, maybe because of issues relating to [Brunei] being an Islamic state.”

Despite these and other dramatic differences, there are commonalities and universal themes that unite women lawyers in Asia and around the world.

Women increasingly make up the majority of new entrants within the legal profession in Asia. But as is the case beyond the region, too few find their way to partnerships. In many cases, this speaks more about workplace policy than unequal opportunity.

“I think all law firms in Asia and in the West are grappling with the same problem – how to retain women talent,” says Zia Mody, the managing partner at AZB & Partners in Mumbai. “Everyone has gone beyond the point of hiring women. They are valuable. The question is how many have really finessed the conversation with women on how to keep them.”

“From an in-house perspective, organizations need to understand both what draws women to in-house roles and why some women leave these positions,” says Tanya Khan, vice president and managing director for Australia and Asia-Pacific at the Association of Corporate Counsel, Australia. “Companies must implement policies and programmes to attract and retain them.”

“I think if you’re small enough, which we are, the solution is pretty much bespoke,” says Mody. She has conversations with new mothers individually to figure out their requirements and how these can fit in at the firm. “When there is proper expectation setting, you see everyone fall in line including all the male partners.”

Arfidea Saraswati, a founding partner at Akset Law in Jakarta, says her firm introduced an extra three months of unpaid maternity leave (on top of the mandatory three months of paid leave) because she demanded the same after having her first child while at her former firm. “Your child becomes your number one client,” says Saraswati. “I told them I would resign if I didn’t get the extra time off. They gave it to me and it became a precedent.”

At Akset, female employees who are having a child or getting married are not required to stay later than 5:30pm, work weekends or travel for the first year unless they wish to do so. “We understand that the first year is the busiest for a new mum,” she says. Her colleagues have discussed other policy measures, such as unpaid paternity leave, which the firm also plans to consider.

Cultural codes and stereotypes

Many of the lawyers profiled expressed frustrations with existing stereotypes of women, and discussed desires to change cultural expectations of women within and outside the workplace.

In most parts of Asia, women who work are stilloften required to bear domestic, childcare and other familial responsibilities almost entirely. “They routinely have to balance both equally,” says Mumbai-based Jagriti Bhattacharyya, chief counsel of Thomson Reuters. “In India we need more awareness and affirmative action to change the mindset and recognize that women are expected to manage domestic responsibilities unlike a lot of their male colleagues.”

Such deep-rooted views mean that while women have been empowered to some degree, gender roles are still largely set in stone. “China is a complete paradox,” says Shi. “You had Mao [Zedong] proclaim that women hold up half the sky and can do anything, but at the same time you also have a very feudal mentality that deems housework, cooking and caring for the elderly and the young to be women’s work.”

This view of a women’s duties can sometimes extend to the tasks they are given in the workplace. “When I was a junior associate, I was expected to be helpful and felt social pressure to volunteer for ‘office housework’,” says Phuong Nguyen, the managing partner at Zico Law in Vietnam. “Firms are more likely to assign women to these tasks, because women are more likely to agree to perform them.”

Some lawyers question whether workplace policies are enough to shift such entrenched views about a woman’s worth, place and individual identity in societies where they have historically been treated as subservient, second-class citizens.

Miki Sakakibara, president of the Japan In-house Lawyers Association, points out that Japan’s public registration system mandates by law that women take their husband’s name after marriage. Similarly, despite existing sex discrimination laws in Hong Kong, married women cannot give a child their own name. “How do you explain that my child has to have my husband’s surname?” asks Shi. “The government has to be consistent in its messaging. [Changing such laws] would be a very public message by the government saying I am holding both sexes equal.”

Partnerships and progress

Although the quest for gender parity continues, there are undoubtedly signs of progress. In many cases, women today enjoy more freedom from societal norms and have greater agency in determining their priorities and shaping their future.

“In the past few decades, we have seen the diversification of the legal profession,” says Bhattacharyya. “In-house roles have become more attractive, intellectually stimulating, professionally fulfilling and financially rewarding. With the legal sector opening up the way it has … there are now more opportunities for women to be in the profession.”

“There is definitely some aspiration for an improved work-life balance, but it’s more about time for yourself than starting a family,” says Audray Souche, managing director of DFDLThailand. “I see that very strongly and it’s very specific to Thailand. I don’t think there’s any conscious career consideration, it’s more about a generation which is very focused on enjoying the current moment.”

In addition, the MeToo movement has forced a restructuring of social relations between men and women, leading to a greater awareness of the need for equality and respect. And government policies such as “womenomics”, a campaign by Japanese president Shinzo Abe to have women in 30% of leadership roles by 2020, offer further fuel towards gender parity goals.

Many lawyers stress the need for solidarity, sisterhood, mentorship and sponsorship. As women take on new positions of power within the legal industry, they gain the chance to disrupt patriarchal structures, introduce fairer policies, become role models and improve prospects for younger women lawyers.

The following mosaic of personal stories identifies some of the nuances that typify women’s experiences in particular Asian jurisdictions, while also drawing on the wealth of shared experiences that bind them.