In celebration of International Women's Day 2024, we sit down with Leslie-Ann Seon, founder of Seon & Associates in Grenada, Multilaw's only all-female law firm. Leslie-Ann shares her journey, challenges, and the firm's commitment to empowering women, championing diversity, and inspiring inclusion in the legal profession.
1 Fostering Inclusion in the Legal Field: As we celebrate "Inspire Inclusion" for International Women's Day 2024, Seon & Associates is Multilaw’s only all-female law firm, and in that sense is quite unique, how did it come about?
This came about not by deliberate design. Previously, we always maintained at least one male staffer. On the departure of our last male employee, it became increasingly difficult for various reasons to find a suitable male employee. A few years ago, just prior to my doing a radio interview for International Women’s day, it dawned on me that we were an all-female law firm and that this should be embraced and celebrated.
2 Empowering Women through Legal Advocacy: In the spirit of inspiring inclusion, can you share examples of how your firm has championed the rights and inclusion of women and girls in Grenada and beyond?
Our firm supports and contributes to worthy female empowerment causes at the community and national levels through education, sports, humanitarian advocacy, and financial means wherever it is fitting and appropriate to do so.
3 Championing Diversity and Equity: How do you believe the legal industry can better embrace diversity and equity, particularly for women?
By ensuring equal opportunity policies for women in hiring, promotion, and leadership roles; and fostering supportive workplaces and culture to enable balancing of family professional and personal responsibilities as well as ensuring laws are in place or enforceable against harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
4 Overcoming Barriers: Reflecting on your own journey, what barriers have you faced as a woman in the legal profession, and how have you worked to overcome them to inspire other women?
The biggest barrier I faced as a female attorney over the years is the perception that one’s capability competence and capacity are inferior to the male counterparts, regardless of training and experience, and particularly in legal specialities where male attorneys are more prevalent and or prominent. It takes double or triple the effort to receive the same level of respect or to command the equivalent fee and or to procure similar “high profile” assignments or clients as my male colleagues. As my reputation developed over the years, it has become less difficult or discriminatory.
5 Mentorship and Development: How important is mentorship in achieving gender inclusivity within the legal sector?
Mentorship is critical to gender inclusivity as it helps to keep gender on the agenda, so that the consistency of gender inclusive communication and practice resonates with the mentee, male or female, to become a force of habit and not a habit that is forced.
6 Multilaw Membership and Women's Inclusion: As a recent member of Multilaw, how do you see the network enhancing your firm's ability to contribute to the global platform for women's inclusion and equality?
By facilitating networking opportunities specific to women within the membership and beyond, addressing topics such as harassment and discrimination in the workplace; providing mentorship and training opportunities/sessions for younger female attorneys, including foci/fora on leadership and decision making roles; and, establishing cross border training programs to support/enhance the career development of young women lawyers in various specialised fields of law.
7 Vision for the Future: Looking forward, what is your vision for the role of women in the legal profession, and how do you plan to continue inspiring inclusion through your work?
I believe that the role of women continues to be of importance in the continuing development of the legal profession as a whole and in the personal development of the female legal professional. Our role should not just be to dominate the legal field in quantity, but to demonstrate qualitative differences in tangible form, that is to say, the ethics and integrity that must underpin legal practice, the unwavering dedication to seek justice for our clients, contemporaneously with a relentless pursuit of excellence in the profession that is a model to follow for all legal professionals. My plan is to continue to be a mentor for young legal professionals leading by example not just by words, but by deeds and actions.