Fed up having to field remarks about what she’s wearing and fueled by a desire to eradicate discrimination in her workplace, Sarah Leamon took matters into her own hands.
She stopped short of taking the law into her own hands, which is well advised, considering Leamon is a Richmond-based criminal defense lawyer.
Instead, she founded the Women's Association of Criminal Lawyers (WACL) just over a month ago in a determined drive to shed much-needed light on apparently overt sexism in B.C.’s courtrooms and provide a platform for women in her profession to network and grow.
Leamon, who practices on Cedarbridge Way - a stone’s throw from Richmond Provincial Court – recognizes it will take a little bit of time to build support behind WACL.
In the meantime, she’s hoping bringing the issue out into the open will make some people think twice before speaking.
“Almost every single day there are critiques about what you’re wearing, from anyone and everyone: other lawyers, male and female, Crown Counsel, clients, court clerks and police officers, the whole gamut,” said Leamon, who has been practising for eight years.
“I even recall a (female) judge saying I needed to wear a scarf over my jacket, because she wanted me covered up to my neck. That was humiliating.
“I would be hard pressed to find a female criminal lawyer who hasn’t experienced it. The shoes are a huge thing; ‘those heels are too high,’ or ‘your top is too low, you need to pull that up.’
“We have to make decisions as female lawyers that men don’t have to make. I have to think, ‘should I wear red lipstick today,’ ‘should I curl my hair,’ ‘should I wear pants or a skirt?’
“Clients also make inappropriate remarks or doubt I’m even a lawyer, it’s almost an everyday experience on the phone.
“People need to hear it from a man and I sometimes have to put a male colleague on the phone because a client won’t take my word for it.”
This, as Leamon points out, where WACL comes in, citing studies – including a recent one done in Ontario by the Law Society – that illustrate criminal law in particular being a very difficult field for women to work in.
“(That study) found that the number of women entering criminal law was at the same rate as men, but were leaving so much faster than men and faster than any other area of law,” she added.
“They found that more than 60 per cent of women in criminal law were thinking of leaving. They felt isolated. Most criminal defense lawyers are sole practitioners and it’s hard to create meaningful work relationships.
“I basically work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I have to be on call. Many women have families to run and children to look after and that lack of parity (in numbers) feeds the discriminatory attitudes and sexism in a continually male-dominated bar.”
Ironically, Leamon said her local court around the corner is actually one of the friendliest in the province for female lawyers.
“There seems to be more female Crown Counsel members and there seems to be more sense of community; I’ve always been treated very well there,” she said.
Leamon said she wants to hear from other women in similar positions and wants “to be able to hear people tell us what they need and what is the best way to support them.
“I’ve heard of some women asking about networking opportunities, to be able to go out, get together over a drink and set up mentorship opportunities.”
So far, Leamon said WACL has been well received among her peers, with many commenting that she is “filling a gap in the field.”
Ultimately, concluded Leamon, she wants “to be able to make it more comfortable and more inclusive (in the profession) and have gender parity.
“I want women to enter criminal law and stay around.”
