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IWD: How young female lawyers are making a difference
Reflecting on International Women’s Day 2021, recent graduate and winner of the law student category at our Women in Law Awards spoke to how her experiences in the profession and outside of it have contributed to gender equality.
Naomi Neilson
For Family Court legal associate and soon-to-be family lawyer Melany Toombs, her capacity to help other women and encourage equality in the profession did not need to wait until she had more experience or more years as a lawyer on her résumé. For her and for other young, female lawyers, helping other women can start now.
“It could be things like meeting with younger law students or less experienced women in your field and sharing encouragement,” Ms Toombs said. “Encourage them to go for that promotion or jump into the next space and also share some practical skills. For example, help someone prepare for an interview or read over their CV, which might take five or 10 minutes out of your day.
“Then in the broader community context, do things like take an hour out of your week to go and do community legal education or host seminars for other people.”
Ms Toombs said it was important for her to build up other people that are in the early stages of their learning or careers as meeting with other women can be really valuable. When she was in her first few years of university, Ms Toombs said that she took advantage of Women Lawyers Association events to connect with female leaders and partners, as well as with other young female lawyers.
Being a part of a community women’s group that operates outside of the profession has also been really valuable. Ms Toombs said she has “seen the power” of this from her time with the Viking Cycling Club or other social rides. She said it was a great way of “building up a bit of confidence in a sometimes-intimidating environment”.
“I certainly have seen some really interesting insights from the women’s involvement in the cycling community which I think translated across to the legal profession. For example, meeting in smaller contexts, having opportunities for skill development and also women building up other women to take positions like coaching or executive legal positions or whatever the equivalent to that is,” Ms Toombs said.
Ms Toombs said how that community group invites women in can be translated into how women in the legal profession support other women to succeed.
“I’ve definitely seen the power of that in both those contexts, whether it’s inviting someone along to do something or making sure that you don’t have to be the raging extrovert of the firm or of the community. Even just being approachable or sharing a few tips is really powerful in building up women and their journeys,” she said.
As for working with more senior women, Ms Toombs said she started a professional relationship with Professor Kim Rubenstein in her administrative law class and although Professor Rubenstein has moved onto the 2030 Foundation, “that connection we started as a student and lecturer has continued”. For example, Ms Toombs has helped Professor Rubenstein with a pro bono citizenship case that focused on gender and race and the way those certain factors intersected.
Professor Rubenstein has also asked Ms Toombs to collaborate on a book chapter for the Cambridge Companion to Gender in Law, which was recently submitted.
Commenting on this, Ms Toombs said: “I think the idea that my mum always told me about people riding on each other’s coattails is really powerful because you can bring so many people along with you if you ask them to help you out and also acknowledge that contribution as well, which Kim has certainly done.”
Having allies of different genders has also been a contributing factor. Working alongside the Honourable Justice Shane Gill in the Family Court, Ms Toombs said he took the time to bring her onboard with a “tight knit and productive team”.
“Also, at an event or in certain contexts he will [introduce me to others] and say ‘oh, this is my associate’ and he will bring me into conversations that are not only interesting but also equip me with particular skills or give me great opportunities. He’s also taken the time to think about how I can improve,” Ms Toombs said.
Listen to the entire episode here for more tips on working with senior female practitioners, finding unique opportunities for more experience and keeping a faith-based approach when practising law.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
