header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
17 April 2014 / Brie Stevens-Hoare KC
Issue: 7603 / Categories: Bar , Features , Profession
printer mail-detail

Raising the Bar

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Brie Stevens-Hoare QC addresses gender inequality at the senior Bar

On 12 March 2014 Lord Neuberger gave the Rainbow Lecture on Diversity. The lecture concluded with an explicit reference to the duty of all those involved in the legal profession and judiciary to improve the inclusiveness of the legal world.

Most practising lawyers will recognise the reasons Lord Neuberger identified for working against the continuing lack of diversity in the legal professions. He spoke of the “sheer inequity” and the “reduction in excellence” that flows from a lack of diversity, the failure to select from the whole of the available pool.

Neuberger also articulated the idea that the role of the legal profession and judiciary in society makes the achievement of comprehensive diversity in the sector particularly significant. Those in society who see themselves as under-represented or even absent from its key sectors are alienated. The legal professions are feeder professions for the judiciary. They and the judiciary are perceived as powerful in our society and key to the rule

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll