Female lawyers seek space in profession

Advocate Firdous Imtiaz, former Finance secretary, LHCBA said, out of some 1500 female lawyers, only four to five hundred were actually engaged in the profession mainly because of lack of family support.   

Female lawyers usually leave the profession when they get married, as they are hardly encouraged by their spouse to carry on the profession. She said family environment aught to be conducive for this profession.                               

“As far as I am concerned atmosphere was good when I entered the profession,” she added.

As there are a few female lawyers in the profession, many women have to face a lot of trouble as male lawyers despite charging high fees don’t pursue their cases honestly, which remain unsettled for years.  

Mehreen, 70, is fighting a case for her defence property since 1984, and during the period, she approached three male lawyers but the case is still pending. She is of the view that they swindled her by charging high fee keeping the case in limbo. “Now I have approached a female lawyer, who is cooperative and I am quite hopeful she would take the case to its right conclusion”, she maintained.  

Sumera, another victim of male lawyers’ apathy, was twenty-five years of age when she approached the court for divorce and hired a male lawyer. Now she has turned thirty-seven, but her case is still pending with no hope of any break through in the near future.