To coincide with the IBA’s 2014 Latin American Regional Forum, held in Punta del Este last month, the Cyrus R Vance Center for International Justice organised its latest women in the profession conference in Montevideo. Here, the partners of five Uruguayan firms who hosted the meeting tell us about the day
Who spoke at the event and what was discussed?
Maria Elena de Posadas, Posadas, Posadas & Vecino: Elizabeth Millard, managing director of the Cyrus R Vance Center for International Justice, opened the conference with a brief presentation of the organisation and Antonio Stolper, vice chair [and Shearman & Sterling LLP partner], spoke about the efforts of the Vance Center to engage lawyers in pro bono work and of its goals of getting Women in the Profession (WIP) committee leaders involved in women’s rights issues. Carmen Corrales [of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP] and Carrie Cohen [Office of US Attorney for Southern District of New York], gave a general overview of the goals and activities of the centre.
The WIP conference in Montevideo was organised in a different format to that of the past WIP conferences. The audience split up into five different groups and each was led by two members of the WIP leadership team, together with a local partner from the organising firms. Each group addressed a particular topic and engaged in discussions for about 90 minutes, coming back with identified problems, concerns and recommendations. Roundtable sessions lasted for an hour and a half, where each audience member took the opportunity to discuss three different topics. There was a final plenary session at which each group made a brief report and ended with overall conclusions.
The five topics and their respective moderators were:
Collaboration by women lawyers across borders to achieve their goals (Antonia Stolper, Carolina Zang, Zang, Bergel & Viñes Abogados, and Verónica Raffo, Ferrere)
Strategies for implementing best practices for recruiting, retaining, and promoting women in the profession (Patricia Menendez, Estudio Beccar Varela, Raquel Novais, Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados, and Corina Bove, Guyer & Regules).
How women lawyers who have attained leadership roles in their profession can contribute to the improvement of our society (Carmen Corrales, Maria Teresa Quiñones, Rodrigo, Elías & Medrano Abogados, and Marcela Hughes, Hughes & Hughes Abogados).
Challenges women face in their professional development and ways of overcoming them (Carrie Cohen, Cecilia Mairal, Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal, Patricia Nuñez, Núñez, Muñoz, Verdugo & Cía Ltda, Abogados and Virginia Brause, Jiménez de Aréchaga, Viana & Brause).
Developing networking circles (Claudia Barrero, prietocarrizosa, Patricia López Aufranc, Marval, O'Farrell & Mairal, and María Elena de Posadas, Posadas, Posadas & Vecino).
How did the event relate to similar events organised by the Vance Center in Latin America?
Marcela Hughes, Hughes & Hughes: Since 2006 the Vance Center has teamed up with leading female lawyers in different Latin American countries – Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile and this time, Uruguay – to organise different programmes and events such as conferences and surveys, with the purpose of promoting the recruitment, retention, advancement and promotion of women in the legal profession as well as engaging lawyers in activities that will lead to causing an impact in society relating to the centre’s fundamentals: lawyer-to-lawyer collaboration across borders and between private, public and NGO sectors; leveraging scarce resources with significant pro bono engagement; strengthening the capacity and diversity of the legal profession and its activism in and on behalf of civil society.
The main feature of the WIP Conference in Montevideo which differed to previous programmes was the format. This proved to be very enriching and caused a lot of enthusiasm within the audience, causing empathy and a sense of belonging, which we believe will lead to the attending lawyers carrying on and engaging in future activities; thus the initiative not concluding in this specific event.
Who was in the audience and what was their response to the topics discussed?
Verónica Raffo, Ferrere: One of the most significant aspects of Montevideo’s WIP conference was the audience. More than 150 female lawyers participated but the most outstanding element was the diversity. Although we had the regular attendance of partners, senior and junior associates from large firms and company in-house lawyers, we also had the privilege to host members of the courts, advisors from legal departments at state-owned companies and governmental agencies, members of small and medium-sized law firms and independent practitioners. This remarkable set of different points of view greatly enriched the dialogue, helped building a very enthusiastic atmosphere and had an impact on the conclusions we reached.
What conclusions were reached?
Corina Bove, Guyer & Regules: Based on the conclusions of each of the five roundtables, several ideas and action plans were formulated. One of them is to work on the continuity of what was launched at the conference by, among other things, maintaining periodic meetings with the participants (and all other lawyers who may want to join this priceless initiative of the Vance Center) in order to share the needs and developments with respect to the advancement of women in the legal profession in Uruguay. Another action plan is to work at identifying and implementing policies as well as best practices for the recruiting, retention and promotion of women in the legal profession, using the tools provided by the Vance Center and trying to adapt them (where necessary) to the needs of our own market.
Other ideas relate to incentivising the overall formation and specialisation of women in our profession, including other skills (besides those strictly in the legal field) such as management and negotiation techniques. On another note, a special mention was made to the idea of sponsoring and incentivising networking initiatives and the creation of networking circles, always having in mind that every woman must always help other women.
In short, there is a lot of work to be done, but the receptivity and enthusiasm perceived during the conference made us confident that significant advancements will result from the Vance Center’s initiative.
Why are events like this important for the advancement of the women in the legal profession?
Virginia Brause, Jiménez de Aréchaga, Viana & Brause: The significance of events like this is that, above all, these events allow female professionals who take part in them the possibility of detaching themselves – even if it just for the duration of the event – from the rest of their obligations, to consider and give some thought to their careers, as part of a planning aspect that proves essential to professional growth. Also, these events lead to forums where issues relative to career development may be discussed, along with other topics like accessing leadership roles on the basis of challenges common to all women.
In the case of the conference held in Uruguay, over 150 women who act as attorneys-at-law for corporations from both the public and private sectors, legal firms and the judiciary shared their common interests. This, in addition to attendance by partners from leading firms in the US, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Uruguay, enabled constructive synergy and learning for female lawyers of all ages and generations present.
The advice that these leaders offered to their fellow lawyers will undoubtedly remain in the minds of each of them to guide them in their professional decisions and plans. The encounter was also a motivational life experience that urged in all participants the decision to make this the first meeting of many projects to come.