Murder Trials in Her Stride. Biggest Challenges to Come From Within the Profession. Behind the Scenes at the Bar

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A word of advice: don't wear trousers,' she told me. 'Judges don't like them.' I was 23 and fresh out of Bar school - and A wearing what I thought was a very smart trouser suit. She was a senior barrister with an impressive reputation assigned to be my mentor (or 'pupil mistress') for the next six months. Yet I was shocked that she seemed to let such old-school attitudes on workwear go unchallenged.

'But the rules say, "suitable court attire,"' I countered.

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Murder Trials in Her Stride. Biggest Challenges to Come From Within the Profession. Behind the Scenes at the Bar

'Some judges don't like women in trousers,' she replied firmly. 'You have to play it safe,' adding that it was better to cater to old prejudices because your duty as an advocate for your client was to be as personally unobjectionable as possible.

I spent the next five years struggling around in a pencil skirt with obligatory heels until in May 1995 the Lord Chief Justice clarified that trousers were, actu...

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