Women in Criminal Law celebrate their fourth birthday
On Friday 1 April 2022, Women in Criminal Law were thrilled to finally be able to throw our very long overdue birthday bash, to celebrate four fabulous years of WICL!
It was such a joy to be able to welcome so many of our brilliant members and sponsors from across the profession to eat, drink, be merry and celebrate all that WICL has achieved. It has been a tough couple of years for many in our WICL family, and we felt it was important to mark all that we have accomplished during these challenging times, including our contributions to opposing proposals for extended operating hours, the establishment of our Race Equality Committee and our incredible educational and wellness initiatives throughout lockdown.
We were very pleased to host several judges, including Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb and The Recorder of London, HHJ Mark Lucraft QC, and special guests CBA Chair Jo Sidhu QC and LCCSA Vice President Adeela Khan). Both organisations have been hugely supportive of WICL's various policy initiatives, and we look forward to continuing to work together.
Our Chair and Founder Katy Thorne QC said:
“It was wonderful to see so many women, who work in a male dominated industry, come together to celebrate how far we’ve come, and fantastic to see so many male allies come to celebrate with us”
We would particularly like to thank HHJ Wendy Joseph QC, our birthday dinner speaker, for her inspirational words about not giving up and not looking back. At WICL, we are particularly proud of our Mentoring Scheme and the support this has offered to our members over the past two years. HHJ Joseph QC was one of our original mentoring judges, and has led a judicial mentoring circle with us for a number of years. The scheme has grown hugely, thanks in no small part to the support of HHJ Joseph QC and others who have pioneered the scheme. These circles offer invaluable safe spaces and guidance to our member participants. If you would like more information or to get involved, all details can be found on our website.
We were also delighted to celebrate the rise of women of differing backgrounds. A particularly poignant moment was when our Chair and Founder Katy Thorne QC paused her speech to salute the appointment to silk of the 6th and 7th black female Queens Counsel, Laurie Anne Power QC (our Race Equality Committee Chair) and Nneka Akudolu QC who were both in attendance.
As we look to the year ahead, we look forward to more in-person events and networking opportunities. However, we know that for various reasons not all of our members are ready to meet up in person yet. We will continue to plan online and hybrid events to ensure that all our members can continue to be involved with WICL.
Thank you again to all of our fabulous attendees, our brilliant sponsors, and everyone who has supported WICL over the past two years. See you next year!
