Women's International Partnership Network
Women in Partnership
At Osborne Clarke, across all of our teams, we want to increase the number of women in senior roles. We support gender equality across promotions, recruitment and succession planning, and take concrete steps to make sure more of our women progress into partnership and leadership roles.
This hub highlights the journeys our female partners have taken as leaders within Osborne Clarke, the work they carry out with high-profile clients, and the opportunities there are in our supportive and collaborative environment.
As a firm, we're only as good as our people, and we will continue to build an international legal business that reflects the diversity of our communities and clients.
We encourage women to be part of our growing international organisation, helping to build a positive and inclusive working atmosphere and contribute to the growth and development of Partners and junior women in general.
The exceptional nature of Osborne Clarke is that it gently encourages, supports, and provides opportunities for lawyers to grow together with the firm. That is its secret. Katarzyna Barańska - Partner, Poland
The network of female partner across Osborne Clarke is brilliant – no matter what your circumstances, you genuinely feel that you are never alone Sarah Knight - Partner, UK
I was given a huge amount of trust at the start of my career, I was given a lot of independence to act, the opportunity to implement my own ideas - this allowed me to develop very quickly. Renata Dłuska - Partner, Poland
Now that I'm a partner you have control of a lot of things - giving direction to the firm, you can train and educate other people. And you can bring a lot to the clients because you have direct contact with them. Marie Canivet - Partner, Belgium
We are truly international: we have cross-office teams, international teams, so you can easily call up someone in our Polish office, German office to ask them a question about a particular deal. Caroline Gregson - Partner, UK
Our people stories
Katherine Kirrage, Partner, UK
I trained at Osborne Clarke and so have been here for nearly my whole career. It was a real privilege to move into the partnership - but no matter how long I've been here, I would have chosen to be a partner OC, rather than anywhere else. We've got a really strong and collaborative partnership, and we're very strategic and future-focused.
I've drawn support from all sorts of people throughout my career, but certainly my team and my supervising partner at Osborne Clarke have been an amazing support to me. OC also gave me a coach, which was fantastic in terms of bringing out my strengths and helping me to progress and take on leadership roles. But the partnership itself has been the biggest source of support - both when I was going for partner and as a new partner over the last couple of years.
For me, what's brilliant about our female partners network is seeing how women from across our international firm come together to work together, network and share ideas. I love that we are making real progress and increasing the number of women in partnership at Osborne Clark -it's exciting to be part of it.
Alice Conway, Partner, UK
When I wanted to move back to Bristol from London, Osborne Clark was high on my radar. I knew it would offer the quality of an international law firm, but with the depth of expertise in my particular sector, and also a genuine presence in Bristol as well as London. So it was an easy choice for me and I approached the firm on that basis. I felt immediately at home as soon as I arrived here and I haven't looked back.
In my experience, being a partner at Osborne Clarke never feels a lonely place to be. All the partners are hugely supportive and collegiate. The genuine strength of relationships between the teams is particularly noticeable when you're out in the market amongst peer firms, but there is a particular warmth of the female partner network within the firm.
We've got a number of women in senior roles, who are a variety of different personality types, and I think this is really important. They're not all there simply because they shout the loudest – they all bring something different and important to the table and they're brilliant role models for the more junior partners and the senior non-partners. I love the genuine friendships and support I have amongst my peers and can offer those coming up into the partnership, but I've also learned a massive amount from our more senior female leaders.
You're inevitably going to have to make compromises and sacrifices if you are working a full-time job alongside trying to balance family life. At Osborne Clarke, I've always felt I've been able to make those choices on my own terms and I've had support whenever I've needed it. I really don't think that the choices and the balance that I've sought have had any adverse impact on my career progression here. In fact, I think they've been positively encouraged.
Arty Rajendra, Partner, UK
I was the only partner leading a team of seven people exiting my previous firm and therefore I felt a lot of responsibility to choose the right home for them. I had to make sure it was not only a good fit for me, but it worked for everybody else. I spoke to eight or nine firms. Some I dismissed immediately, mainly because the cultural fit wasn't right or because they wouldn't give the other lawyers I was bringing with me room to grow.
I chose Osborne Clark for three reasons. The first is culture. Everybody goes on about the OC culture, but it's so important and I'm a big fan. The way people talk to each other, support each other and behave towards each other is very respectful. There is also a sense of fun and that the lawyers enjoy what they are doing and helping clients. And all the stuff that goes on at OC outside of client work is really exciting too.
The second reason was OC's international footprint. I had worked for an international firm before, so I knew that working for a UK-only firm wasn't for me. I wanted to be in a firm that had international offices and was very connected throughout Europe.
The last thing was ambition. OC is not a static firm - it's always looking at its competitors and trying to aim higher. The firm has huge ambitions for growth, development and profitability.
I think we have a really strong partnership here. It's also supportive. I've observed the way people talk to each other in partners meetings, and when things are tricky, like they were in the pandemic, how supportive the partnership was of each other, and of their colleagues and clients. I'd also describe the partnership as conscientious, which is actually really important. That doesn't just mean working hard, but really thinking about things deeply before rushing into making a decision, which is key tor trust and long-term success.
Osborne Clarke For Good is our way of making sure we're a responsible business, which is important to us.
Contact us to learn more about being a partner at Osborne Clarke
