The Glass Ceiling Remains Firmly in Place for Women in New Zealand’s Higher Courts
Despite women making up 55 percent of New Zealand’s lawyers, they represent less than 30 percent of lead counsel appearing in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, according to the New Zealand Bar Association’s 2024 gender ratio report – a fact we have reported on this occasion, but also previously on several occasions.
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An RNZ report says the disparity hasn’t meaningfully improved in the past 12 years, creating what NZBA Diversity and Inclusion Committee co-chair Genevieve Haszard calls a “striking” imbalance.
“It’s a bit of an old boys club,” Haszard notes, pointing to subconscious bias, networking challenges, and cultural issues that prevent women from advancing1. The profession’s historically male-dominated structure continues to create barriers, even as more women join the legal ranks.
One anonymous Auckland lawyer offered a different perspective, claiming she’s “never faced a glass ceiling” but instead encountered “woman-on-woman bullying” as the primary obstacle to advancement1. Whether this represents a broader trend remains unclear.
Partnership Problems
The numbers tell the story: women make up at best 40% of partnerships in top-tier firms, and as little as 29% in others, according to the Auckland Women’s Lawyers Association.
Freelance journalist Sasha Borissenko, herself admitted to the bar in 2013, points to the partnership model as a key culprit.
The system rewards billable hours and punishes those with caregiving responsibilities—predominantly women1. Add sexual misconduct, bullying, microaggressions, and unconscious bias to the mix, and you have systemic issues that reports and inquiries alone can’t fix.
Beyond the obvious equity concerns, Haszard warns this gender imbalance serves as a “canary in the mine” for broader diversity problems. The lack of diverse counsel appearing in higher courts risks limiting perspectives, experiences, and creative legal thinking that shape common law development.
Borissenko puts it bluntly: “It’s distribution of power… the justice system holds society together, and lawyers have an opportunity to be trailblazers.”
Building From the Ground Up
University of Auckland’s Women in Law co-presidents Anabelle Kay and Veisinia Maka (pictured above) are tackling these challenges at the educational level. Their organization provides mentorship, networking, and professional development for women still in law school.
“Representation is so important when giving female students the confidence to go for those more recognised internships or experiences,” Kay explains. The group emphasizes intersectional representation, acknowledging the additional barriers faced by Māori, Pasifika, rural, neurodiverse, and LGBTQ+ students.
The solutions require more than just talk. Borissenko calls for “bold, measurable action” including accountability for firms, agencies, and judiciary through transparent tracking and reporting of gender disparities and pay. She also advocates for updating the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act to reflect modern realities.
Without substantive changes, the legal profession risks perpetuating a system where power remains concentrated among the few rather than reflecting the society it serves.
