The first female chair of law firm Herbert Smith Freehills said the Covid pandemic convinced her to take on the top job and had led to better conditions for lawyers to juggle work and family.
Rebecca Maslen-Stannage was elected chair and senior partner of Herbert Smith Freehills last year, becoming part of a wave of women breaking through law’s male-dominated top ranks to lead some of the world’s most powerful firms.
In 2020 Georgia Dawson became the first woman to run “magic circle” firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in its almost 300-year history. Aedamar Comiskey became Linklaters’ first female senior partner in May last year and Karen Davies was elected to lead Ashurst, which has more than 1,600 lawyers.