The Gender Agenda

Jan Crowley’s career was almost over before it began. Working for a regional NSW council in the mid-1960s, she was forced to resign upon getting married. Unsurprisingly, the same rule didn’t apply to her new husband. The community mindset at the time was that a wife’s work belonged in the house.
But Jan didn’t cease employment after exchanging vows. Instead, she kept going. And going. And going. Now 74 years old and almost a decade beyond what most Australians consider to be the average retirement age, she’s still going.
Jan has worked as a conveyancing clerk for Tonkin Drysdale Partners (TDP) for the past 14 years. She never dreamed of continuing this long. But when she joined TDP, she found she enjoyed going to work. She loved the camaraderie of the practice, the family-minded spirit of the partners, and the responsibility they delegated to her.
Over such a long career, Jan found these things weren’t givens, especially in the legal profession, which has been a traditionally male-dominated industry. When she began working as a legal secretary almost 50 years ago, Jan’s duties were restricted to relatively menial tasks like taking shorthand notes. At TDP she deals directly with clients in their property transactions and derives immense satisfaction from helping people complete one of the biggest transactions of their life.
Jan’s longevity in the workforce is a source of equal satisfaction for TDP. It gives us confidence about our culture, and commitment to equal opportunity and diversity. A big part of turning those common catch cries into reality is changing the face of the decision makers and leaders of our firm.
Despite female solicitors now out-numbering men in NSW, according to a 2017 Law Society of NSW survey, there is still a huge imbalance at the top of the profession. Recent research from the Women Lawyers’ Association of NSW found that women made up just 18 percent of equity partners.
TDP’s latest appointment, Sophie Newham, is a super talented and enthusiastic senior associate who has fit in perfectly since arriving in June. Sophie works closely with Paul Tonkin, one of our most senior partners and son of the firm’s founder, Philip Tonkin.
And everyone at TDP answers to Julie Downey, the firm’s General Manager. During a time of impressive growth for TDP, Julie has overseen everything from human resources to training and payroll over the past seven years. Her ability to rise and meet challenges, both planned and unforeseen, has set a gold standard across the firm.
Paralegal Isabella Favetta is worthy of mention as someone who meets that standard each day. Working across the emotional arena of probate law, Isabella is often confronted with clients suffering high levels of stress and anxiety. With almost 30 years industry experience, Isabella recognises it’s her job to comfort them – on top of providing assistance to the legal matter at hand. Her extraordinary reserves of compassion are a perfect fit with our firm’s desire to be an understanding workplace for women; promoting measures like job sharing to enable our new mums to resume work on their own terms after child birth.
But given she plans to retire around Christmas, we’ll leave the final word to Jan. After so many years working in the law, what does she think women have added to an industry that for so long was almost the sole domain of men? Fittingly enough, she draws upon Isabella’s example for inspiration.
“I feel there’s a sense of compassion,” she says. “It’s not that different from going to see a doctor. Some people prefer dealing with a woman because they do approach things differently, maybe a little softer. The law has benefited from that.”
So has TDP!