President from 1984 to 1985
Helen Melrose was AWLA’s first president and played a key role in establishing AWLA, alongside Margaret Wilson DCNZM and Nancy Dolan. Between them, they drafted a constitution, registered AWLA, and called the inaugural meeting at Auckland University’s Old Government House with upwards of 50 women attending.
AWLA was born out of the frustration of seeing women lawyers face difficulties progressing within the profession, despite the increasing number of women graduating with law degrees.
AWLA began flourishing within months. Early successes included changing the hours that core subjects were taught at Auckland University to be more accessible for students with school aged children. Prior to this, most core subjects were either taught before 9am or after 3pm..
For 12 years, Helen worked as a partner at Sheffield, Young and Ellis which merged with Chapman Tripp in 1984.
Helen was the only woman partner at both firms for some years (after the merger, one plus approximately 35 male partners). She reflects on it being a very tough time for women lawyers. As a partner, Helen joined the staff committee at the firm and played a significant part in increasing the number of women lawyers on the staff from zero to close to 50%. She successfully advocated for parental and part time work opportunities for partners within Chapman Tripp.
At the time, Helen says there was little recognition of women as “credible” lawyers and no awareness of the value they could contribute to the still very conservative profession.
All letters began with “Dear Sirs” regardless of who was receiving the letter. The few women appearing in court faced strict dress rules, including not being allowed to wear trousers. Sexual harassment, being ignored and putting down women were commonplace.
Helen reflects on the attitudes towards paid parental leave, remembering a male partner once stating, “I’m not paying to support another man’s child”.
Despite these attitudes, Helen felt encouraged by the positive changes for women lawyers by the time she left the profession. More women were becoming partners, QCs, joining the judiciary and taking up other senior roles within the profession. Helen recognises the collegiality of some men in the profession who were supportive of women lawyers, particularly Sir Geoffrey Palmer KCMG AC KC PC while in his role as Attorney-General.
Helen reflects on the progress which has been made since AWLA’s inception, saying she is most proud of the continued existence of AWLA. It started off with a bang and has been a strong advocate and support for women lawyers ever since.