International Women's Day 2025

With International Women's Day around the corner, Wilsons have been reflecting on the incredible women in our firm. The Litigation and Family teams have provided an insight on what it is like to be a woman in a contentious, traditionally male dominated field. 

"I am honoured to be a woman working in what at times can be a contentious area of law. My emotional intelligence as a woman enables me to balance my client's needs, aspirations and feelings against providing thorough tailored advice, and sometimes advice that is difficult to deliver. 

I champion all women, working or not, but feel proud to be part of the female community of contentious lawyers and to carry the torch for those empowered and brave women that fought for our rights."

Lisa Payne, Associate, Family

"We often hear words such as 'difficult', 'standoffish', or 'intimidating' to describe a woman in a contentious area of law.  Words which are not as frequently used to describe our male counterparts doing the exact same job.  I think there is often an expectation that if you are young and female your opposition will be able to 'walk all over you' – an assumption many female litigators can use to their advantage and gladly prove wrong time after time. I am privileged to be surrounded by not only a supportive team on the whole, but one which includes strong female role models who I get to work closely with and learn from."

Georgina Salt, Solicitor, Property and Commercial Litigation

"I take a lot of pride in the women in my team. They stand up for themselves. Maya Angelou says "each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women." We also take a lot of pride in standing up for our clients that are women, but of course, our ethos is to stand up for all of our clients. I love the fact that there is a day when we take time out to think about the journey of women's achievements to date and what the next direction is." 

Natasha Grande, Partner, – Head of the Family Team

"I remember attending a meeting as a junior around 10 years ago and being told by a male client that it was unusual to see a woman in the meeting. While women have played a significant role in the legal industry for several decades, I am pleased that attitudes have moved on significantly since then and it no longer feels like woman must prove themselves to attain the same level of respect as male counterparts. For me as a 30 something woman in the legal industry, its inspiring seeing so many women thrive and filter through into more senior roles which were typically male dominated."

Anita Nixon, Solicitor, Property and Commercial Litigation

"These days, I don't often think about myself as a woman litigator, as opposed to a litigator, but early on in my career, there was certainly some people who may have underestimated my feistiness and tenacity because I am a woman, to their peril!  I think attitudes have generally moved on, and the challenges I faced as a working mother trying to have a successful career apply equally now to working fathers who want to be present in their children's lives.  I have always been inspired by hard working women pursuing their goals while having a family and I try to be a good example of this to the women in my team.

So, on IWD, I want to celebrate all those positive role models who inspire, guide and support women to succeed at whatever they want to do."

Jenifer Martindale, Partner, Property and Commercial Litigation

For an insight into careers in law, please see our related post on LinkedIn here.