Rainmaker has recently released a report on the challenges faced by women lawyers in India. The report looks into the presence of women in law firms, litigation practice, and the legal departments of companies contains data on work-life balance, gender bias in the legal workspace, parental leave policies, transition from maternity leave to work, and the rating of employers on their policies and practices. The report also offers solutions to aid employers in retaining talent and making the workspace conducive for working mothers.

During the course of making the report, 81 women lawyers from Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore who are also mothers were surveyed through a questionnaire regarding work-life balance and measures that encouraged women to continue working such as favorable policies towards parenting. The report also looks at some successful women advocates in India and some of the factors that enabled them to break the glass ceiling and reach the top positions.

The study was conducted by Sonal Makhija and Swagata Raha. Sonal Makhija has an M.Sc. in Law, Anthropology, and Society from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is presently working as a freelance legal consultant on public policy issues in Bangalore. Her areas of concern include women and child rights, privacy law and other issues relating to law and society. Swagata Raha graduated from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences and has been working as a human rights law researcher for over seven years. She is presently working as a legal consultant and independent researcher on human rights law and is based in New Delhi.

The full report is available at : http://www.scribd.com/doc/102128508/Challenges-Faced-by-Indian-Women-Legal-Professionals-Full-Report

CLPR is excited to have Sonal Makhija, present the salient points of the study and the Report at the Centre for Law and Policy Research, Bangalore, followed by a discussion on 31st August 2012 (Friday).