Baroness Burt breaks up 'boys' club' of law firm management

Baroness Burt has joined the Birmingham-based firm of DBS Law as an adviser after losing her Solihull seat as a Liberal Democrat MP at last year's general election.

The former assistant governor of Holloway Prison joins two other women recruits as DBS paves the way for more females to be involved in law firm management.

DBS, which also has offices in Smethwick and Nottingham, has made Baroness Burt a non-executive director of the firm's community interest company, DBS Heart.

The firm said Burt's experience in the regional business sector would fare well as she was tasked with raising the profile of DBS through business development and making it more attractive for commercial clientele.

Burt, an economics graduate from Swansea University, served as a Lib Deb MP for ten years and was awarded a peerage a few weeks after her election defeat.

DBS Law has also appointed senior solicitors, Louise Johal and Fiona Moore to the firm. The appointments raise the percentage of women at DBS to just under two-thirds, with those in legal positions at over 95 per cent.

Johal and Moore join the firm's commercial law team, leading the commercial litigation and the East Midlands property departments respectively.

Commenting on her appointment, Baroness Burt said: 'As a member of the All-Parliamentary Group for Women in Business, it's great to be part of a company that has such a forward-thinking approach to recruitment in a sector which has commonly been associated as a bit of a boys' club.'

Davy Bal, the firm's chairman, said: 'It is always great to be ahead of the curve and we have a very open recruitment policy, outlined by the percentage of women we hire.

'There are not enough women in management positions within law firms. That's where the legal sector needs to improve. I expect, and would like to see, my successor to be one of our leading ladies from our senior team.'

Peter Swingler is a freelance journalist