Milestone for Royal Court with all-female intake of lawyers

Friday 23 October 2015

The Royal Court made history yesterday when five Advocates and one Solicitor took their oaths of office – and all of them were women.

The court, which dates back to the 13th century, had never before had an all-female intake of new Advocates.

Deputy Bailiff Tim Le Cocq and Attorney General Robert MacRae welcomed the new lawyers to the profession in a packed ceremonial court session.

The newly sworn-in lawyers are: Advocate Sarah Farrow (who is heavily-pregnant), Advocate Samantha McFadzean, Advocate Chula O'Donoghue, Advocate Cecilia-Anne Scally, Advocate Lauren Taylor and Alexandra Bassford, who was sworn in as a Solicitor.

Advocate MacRae described the day as a “milestone”, quoting Winston Churchill in telling the women that after undertaking the difficult and arduous exams that they were now “entitled to a brief period of respite”.

Moments after they took their oath, Mr Le Cocq added his own congratulations to the new lawyers, saying that they had taken a step towards making the profession slightly more representative of the Island as a whole.

“Times have changed, and have changed in my view for the better,” he said.

“Not only are you women, but you represent a trend in terms of equality in terms of number, just a few moments ago 34% of the membership of the Jersey legal profession comprised of women. Now it’s 35%. There is a long way to go, but that 1% is entirely down to you.”