The founders of WIP Peru are lawyers who have “broken the glass ceiling.” Some are partners in prominent law firms in Lima or managers at leading companies in their respective fields. In the first installment , we interviewed Gianna Macchiavello Casabonne, Director of Legal Services and Compliance Officer at Repsol Peru, and founder and leader of the “rules of the game” committee of this foundation.
Today we spoke with Inés Baca, partner in the mergers and acquisitions and corporate law practice at Estudio Echecopar, associated with Baker & McKenzie International, and also the firm’s lead partner for diversity and inclusion. Inés co-leads the Leadership Committee of WIP Peru.
With Michelle Barclay, a partner at CMS Grau who heads the restructuring and insolvency practice. She is a member of the firm’s Management Committee in Peru, a member of the CMS Latin America Steering Committee, leads the Diversity and Inclusion (D+I) Committee at the local and regional levels for CMS, and actively participates in international D+I initiatives. Michelle also co-leads the Visibility Committee of WIP Peru.
We interviewed Licy Benzaquén, a partner at Estudio Olaechea. Licy co-leads the Rules of the Game Committee of WIP Peru and is currently a member of the WIP-Peru Steering Committee. She is a lawyer specializing in comprehensive business consulting, with an emphasis on the energy, hydrocarbons, and telecommunications sectors. She is also a registered arbitrator.
We also spoke with Claudia Távara, partner and head of the corporate practice at Lazo & De Romaña Abogados, where she was previously a senior associate. She is an expert in mentoring for women and best practices in legal organizations, promotes gender equality and diversity, and leads the firm’s programs in these areas. She is a member of the Steering Committee of Women in the Profession – WIP Peru, and also leads the Mentoring Committee: “Learning from Experience.”
We spoke with Andrea Morelli, an associate at the law firm Rodrigo, Elías & Medrano Abogados. She specializes in the areas of public utility regulation—specifically in energy and telecommunications, infrastructure, and free competition. She graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (2011) and holds a Master of Laws in Competition Law from University College London (2020). She has been a member of the WIP Executive Committee since its founding in 2016 and leads the “We Measure” Committee.
Each of these leaders, from her own sphere, seeks the development of women in the legal profession, putting into practice values of respect, trust and sisterhood.
Inés Baca, Leadership Committee: “In this case, we focus on promoting the development of leadership skills in female lawyers, helping them to develop the necessary abilities for their professional growth. We also encourage the creation of networks that allow us to get to know each other professionally, but above all, personally.”
Michelle Barclay, Visibility Committee: “In the Visibility Committee, we work on various initiatives so that all female lawyers, regardless of their workplace, can have opportunities to be more visible and, through this, we can have more female voices with ideas and opinions in the different activities of the legal profession in Peru. These initiatives, like those carried out by the other pillars of WIP Peru, promote the reduction of the gender gap and the generation of greater opportunities for women in our profession.”
Licy Benzaquén, Rules of the Game Committee (“RCG”): “It seeks to establish a foundation from a “positive” perspective by proposing various strategies for attracting, promoting, and retaining talent, not only for professionals but primarily for organizations, in order to promote equity, provide visibility, and highlight the value of female talent in legal practice. We draw on the information gathered by our “We Measure” Committee and systematize the recommendations with the aim of collaborating with market stakeholders to guide various initiatives that, together, can create a more equitable organizational environment. An example of this is the Rules of the Game Manual that we prepared in 2018 and which we are currently revising to include new recommendations based on the experiences we have all had during the COVID-19 pandemic and over the past three years.”
Claudia Távara, Mentoring Committee: “We consider mentoring to be a fundamental tool for accelerating the professional development of women in the legal profession. Therefore, we defined this thematic axis, focused on the development of women, as part of WIP Peru’s strategy.”Mentoring Programs.”
Andrea Morelli, Medimos Committee: “The proposal of the “Medimos” Committee is that the different practices to promote the progress of female lawyers and equal opportunities in the legal profession be measured to generate specific evidence that really allows us to have a clear and objective overview of the gender gaps in legal practice, in order to identify opportunities for improvement and implement effective actions to promote the progress of female lawyers.
Our motto is “what is not measured cannot be improved” and, for this reason, since the birth of WIP in 2016, the Medimos Committee has been working on measurement instruments specifically aimed at identifying, measuring and generating information about the reality of female lawyers and the barriers that could be compromising their professional growth in different private organizations.
Our commitment is to continue creating “snapshots” every year or two of the progress made in closing the gender gap in legal practice.”
Each action area fulfills a specific objective… In the Leadership Committee, Inés Baca commented, “Our objective, or purpose, as we prefer to call it, is to identify the training and development needs of female lawyers and, based on these, organize workshops or events that promote the creation of solid and enriching professional relationships. Female lawyers have received a much more academic education and haven’t necessarily been trained with the tools that allow us to develop soft skills, use technology, work on our own personal brand, know how to negotiate, develop a network of contacts, etc.”
All the topics we cover in our workshops stem from the needs we identify in our Committee meetings. There, the lawyers who comprise the Committee, drawing on their own personal experiences, propose discussion topics that we believe may be relevant or useful to the entire WIP community. Once an idea is born, we get to work on it, dividing up all the tasks: content, sponsorships, logistics, communication, and networking—everything is necessary to ensure a successful event.
Furthermore, all our events are focused on helping us build our network, which is essential for continued professional growth. Therefore, each event incorporates creative and unique spaces designed to help us break the ice and get to know each other. In some cases, we’ve invited male lawyers from the sector and organized cocktail parties that include games or activities to encourage interaction among attendees.
Regarding the “Visibility Committee,” Michelle Barclay noted that “the goal is to increase the participation of female lawyers in the various activities carried out by companies, law firms, public entities, associations, magazines, chambers of commerce, universities, and any other organization where there is a space for us to share opinions, legal knowledge, and experiences. This includes having more female voices at business or educational events; that is, on panels, seminars, webinars, as well as in university lectures.”
Along these lines, we have created the QUORUM WIP commitment through which various companies and individuals have joined and committed to (i) including at least one woman when organizing business, professional or academic events; (ii) recommending expert female lawyers when invited to an event and references are requested; (iii) not sponsoring events or panels in which at least one woman does not participate; and (iv) always asking if there are women on the panel in which they are going to participate.
We seek to include women in these events to promote diversity and give visibility to all those expert and highly qualified female lawyers whose participation will undoubtedly enrich the legal discussion.
This commitment stems from our frequent encounters with so-called “all-male panels.” When we asked why there were no women on these panels, the answer was that there were no female experts in the field. The truth is, there are expert female lawyers in every area of law, and our goal is to bring these women to light and demonstrate that the pool of panelists, speakers, and professors is much broader and more female. At WIP Peru, we maintain a database of all the female lawyers who have joined our movement, and we are confident that if you are looking for a particular specialty, you will find it here.
This year, our goal is to significantly increase the visibility of QUORUM WIP, as we consider it a cornerstone of this initiative, and we want to attract many more members from various organizations connected to the legal profession. Joining is very simple: just visit www.wipperu.pe , go to the Visibility section, and sign up using the online form. There you will also find a list of all current QUORUM WIP members.
Licy Benzaquén stated, “In particular, the CRJ aims to provide clear and precise tools for professionals and organizations to use in order to achieve real progress toward equal opportunities in the legal sector. This Committee has required the participation of male lawyers, partners, and firm administrators with whom we have shared the Rules of the Game Manual. In some organizations, the proposed practices are already customary, but we believe that if they are not included in written career plans or as part of institutional policies, their permanence and widespread application may be undermined. Therefore, the Manual has both an educational and practical purpose, as it allows for the application of its recommendations to achieve a balance between the different stages of the lives of male and female professionals, which in turn allows for the retention of talent among professionals with specific needs. This levels the playing field and, in a way, puts all professionals on equal footing for their professional development based on their performance.”
Claudia Távara, “The objective of our thematic focus is the development of Mentorship Programs for Women Lawyers. We provide tools that promote professional career development and help women acquire or enhance desired skills to reduce the gender gap in senior positions within legal departments and law firms.
To this end, the program considers the formation of pairs of mentors and mentees so that the mentors can share their knowledge and experience gained in their professional career.
The program is guided by the principles of trust, empathy, dedication, and confidentiality. It focuses on developing the skills of talented young female lawyers (in the early years of their careers) through the experiences of renowned female lawyers in our country who have successfully built their careers in the private and public sectors, as well as in academia.
It is developed in six sessions, one (1) per month, in which the pairs address the following topics:
- Career path.
- Personal Relationships.
- Personal/professional life balance.
- Leadership.
- Communication skills.
- Networking.
For each topic, working materials (readings and videos) are provided, supplemented by the mentor’s experience during mentoring sessions. The program requires commitment, confidentiality, and empathy. Both mentor and mentee commit to developing the program based on these principles, and maintaining the necessary time and dedication for its success can sometimes be challenging in these times. When we launched the first call for mentors and mentees, we were pleasantly surprised by the positive response and the interest shown by WIP members in participating. Our challenge as the Mentoring Committee is to identify mentors, retain them for more than one edition of the program, and ensure the commitment required for its success.
Andrea Morelli, “In the “We Measure Committee” we aim to work on the creation of different measurement instruments, mainly surveys, that allow us to identify, measure and generate reliable and accurate evidence on the situation and progress of female lawyers in the legal profession, and on the impact of the main actions that are already being implemented in the sector.
The evidence we generate with these instruments is not only directed to the various working organizations – for example, those where our WIP members participate – so that they can work as more equitable organizations and disseminate good practices, but is also directed to contribute to the initiatives and action plans carried out by the other WIP Peru Committees.
Specifically for 2021, our Committee plans to work hand in hand with the “Visibility Committee” to conduct an opinion survey in the various studies and/or organizations that will allow us to obtain information on the impressions of lawyers regarding equal opportunities in their respective organizations.”
But what is the scope of each of these programs? Inés Baca, “currently the Leadership Committee has 35 members, lawyers from firms, companies and independent lawyers who meet regularly to continue thinking about how to develop new skills and networking that benefit the entire WIP women community.
The events we organize are aimed at the WIP community in general, as well as any lawyer who wants to participate, and they have always been very well received, which demonstrates that these are topics of interest and that lawyers need these spaces. Our first WIP 360 Leadership Meeting, held in 2017, had 125 participants, and the second Leadership Meeting in 2019 had 200. We have also held events on specific topics such as personal branding or the WIP Leadership Night, which have had around 100 participants. In the last year, we have had to transition to virtual events, and now we are focused on the challenge of finding ways to continue creating events that allow us to develop our network virtually.
Michelle Barclay stated, “Currently, the WIP Peru movement has 1,100 registered lawyers through our Facebook page. Regarding the QUORUM WIP commitment, we have approximately 200 signatories, including companies, law firms, and individuals. There is still significant room for growth in this area, and our Visibility Committee, comprised of 35 lawyers, has already established growth goals in our 2021 work plan. Among our goals are expanding the reach of QUORUM WIP, increasing our presence and followers on social media, and creating content that explains who we are and raises the profile of each of our key areas, as well as the WIP Peru lawyers.”
Licy Benzaquén stated, “In addition to the Rules of the Game Manual, which has been widely disseminated throughout the legal and business community of Peru, the CRJ, composed of 20 lawyers of varying ages, has developed several events to promote the Manual, including one in the city of Trujillo, to spread the message and the work of WIP – Peru. Attendance at these events has been successful, among both female and male professionals. For 2021, our action plan is to strengthen WIP – Peru’s presence in Trujillo and expand our activities to other provinces, as well as take the message to law schools in Lima so that future generations of female lawyers begin their professional lives taking this platform into account. It is important to highlight that our Manual has received an international award for our contribution to diversity in the legal profession in Latin America from the prestigious Latin Lawyer magazine, which fills us with pride and also signifies international visibility and recognition of the CRJ’s contribution to the pursuit of equity in our profession. To consult the WIP Good Practices Manual, you can access [link/website address missing in original text]. through: https://www.wipperu.pe/reglas-de-juego ”.
Claudia Távara, “The First Mentoring Program for Lawyers began in 2017 with 12 pairs, at the end of 2020 the third edition concluded with 25 pairs, in total we have had the participation of 52 mentees throughout the three editions of the Program and more than 20 talented lawyers who have been participating as mentors.
Both mentors and mentees have expressed their satisfaction with the program through the follow-up surveys we conducted. Similarly, the mentees have reported positive results in their professional development after completing the program.
Andrea Morelli: “Our ‘We Measure’ Committee is made up of eight lawyers from in-house and private practice firms. Although it is the smallest committee in terms of people, we are convinced that our team’s work is fundamental to WIP Peru’s strategic objectives.”
An example of this is the survey we conducted in 2018 with the polling firm Datum Internacional and the support of key individuals from the Research Center of Universidad Pacífico, entitled “Situation and Professional Growth of Women Lawyers in Lima’s Leading Law Firms.” This survey aimed to gather objective and highly specific information about the situation of women lawyers in various firms in terms of leadership positions, equity and diversity policies, mentorship programs for women lawyers, and scheduling.flexible, etc. It had the participation of 30 law firms located in Lima, which represented a response rate of almost 60%.
Among the most interesting findings of this survey, we identified, for example, that three out of ten female lawyers become partners. In 83% of the firms interviewed, a man holds the position of managing partner. Only 27% of local firms have a gender equality policy and committee. But we also found some very interesting and encouraging figures. For example, more than 50% of firms have flexible work arrangements, and 37% of local firms have a mentoring program that includes female lawyers.
As we noted, this survey was conducted in 2018. Since then, however, equal opportunity policies and initiatives by law firms to promote the advancement of women have increased significantly. Therefore, our “We Measure Committee” has been tasked with conducting the 2018 survey again to obtain a new snapshot of the situation of women in different law firms, update the evidence, and use the results to continue working on our initiatives and WIP projects.
All of WIP’s thematic areas respond to the same purpose: to contribute to changing the rules of the game and promoting the advancement of women in the legal profession based on “our values of respect, trust, and sisterhood. In that sense, our actions are independent, but always coordinated and complementary. Each of us on the WIP Steering Committee also belongs to one of the committees, which ensures that we are all coordinated and working toward the same objectives. The lawyers who make up each committee change over time; they come and go, and that’s fine. We don’t always have the time to dedicate to these issues, and we don’t judge each other for it. It’s also possible that you might be on one committee today and later want to move to another because you feel more aligned with working on a different area at that point in your career. The important thing is to continue achieving change together and sharing this common task that unites us,” stated Inés Baca, from the Leadership Committee.
“Each of the lawyers who join WIP Peru has the opportunity to work on one or more committees. Some lawyers have registered for more than one. We are flexible; participation is optional and depends on each lawyer’s individual circumstances.”We understand that there is a time for everything and that, moreover, our profession is very demanding, so we appreciate all the contributions of time and ideas from all our lawyers.
The axes complement each other and, through the lawyers who are members of the Steering Committee, we can identify synergies and points of connection between the initiatives of various Committees.
After several months in which our activities were limited by the pandemic, we have started the year strong, and each committee is now focused on its purpose and the execution of its 2021 plans. We hope to share our progress with you in an upcoming interview. At WIP Peru, we identify as “lawyers with purpose” and we always strive for more,” concluded Michelle Barclay.
“We are organized into five committees, each with a specific objective that complements the others, but all under the umbrella of the common goal: to promote equity in the legal profession. In this sense, activities are divided to address the various aspects we consider important for achieving a comprehensive strategy. We, as professionals, can contribute to the best of our ability by carrying out any activity within our reach at any given time. Therefore, it is possible to contribute primarily to the committee in which we actively participate or to collaborate on the objectives of another committee. Every contribution is useful and valuable in tackling this great challenge of changing mindsets and establishing new rules in a world made up of capable and talented men and women,” said Licy Benzaquén.
“The WIP Peru platform allows all its members to be part of any of its thematic areas, either in the formation of the respective Committees or in the participation of the respective programs and/or initiatives developed in each of these.
In the case of our thematic focus, we initially convened our mentors within our network and expanded it to the social media platforms where WIP Peru is actively involved. Similarly, the members of the Learning from Experience Committee and the program’s mentoring pairs also actively participate in events and initiatives organized by other WIP Peru committees.
“The development of the mentoring programs also has the input of the members of the WIP Peru Steering Committee, some of whom are also mentors in the program,” Claudia Távara concluded.
“While each committee has its own line of action, objectives, and team of lawyers, all the committees complement each other, and we aim to promote women’s leadership in the profession and close any equity gaps that may exist in legal practice. Therefore, our initiatives and action plans often overlap, allowing the lawyers on one committee to work hand in hand with other committees. This is the case, for example, with the initiative that the “We Measure” and “Visibility” Committee has planned for 2021.”
Notwithstanding the above, the Executive Committee always strives to be aligned and aware of the work that each committee carries out, not only to contribute to and strengthen the action plans of each one, but also to evaluate and define the path forward considering the objectives of EIP and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice,” explained Andrea Morelli.
