Canadian female general counsel  have complained about how firms are organised and the lack of a collegiate atmosphere in a new book featuring profiles of female general counsel.The women told the authors that it was not just the difficult time demands in private practice which saw female lawyers head in-house but the more congenial atmosphere which in-house positions offered which influenced their decisions to move into the corporate world.
The book, Breaking Though: Tales from theTop Canadian Women General Counsel, written by retired McCarthy Tetrault partner Kirby Chown and executive search consultant Carrie Mandel, found that women were better represented  in the top 500 public companies than in private practice.

Not collegial

Kirby Chown told the Globe and Mail that “Law firms are very competitive, competing for money, for clients, competing with others in the firm, Inhouse, we ahve one client, we have one team and we are all rowing the boat in the same direction..Women seeking out a more collegial team environment found that in-house.”