A high street firm in Winchester has appointed the first female senior partner in its 200-year history. Criminal defence solicitor Chloe Jay joined Shentons in 2012 and was promoted to partner in 2016. The firm said Jay is only the sixth person to hold the position in 50 years, as those who take up the role have led the firm for many years at a time.
Jay said: ‘I am absolutely thrilled to be appointed as senior partner, and I want to continue to build on the firm’s excellent reputation both for client care and as a genuinely flexible and inclusive workplace for our staff. I am excited for the future.’
Jay discussed her career as a criminal defence solicitor with the Law Society last year.
One of the challenges, she said, was the disrespect shown to defence solicitors, who are made to feel like they are outside the justice system.
‘It can come down to basic, little things which sound stupid, but add up. We’re not allowed to park in most court car parks – but prosecution lawyers are. We can’t use the WiFi in certain police stations, and sometimes we don’t have access to appropriate meeting spaces so we end up meeting clients in stairwells. It grinds you down,’ she said last year.
As an employer, she insisted her staff take breaks.
She said: ‘Because there’s so few of us left, we’re on duty more and more, back-to-back. We don’t have the built-in protections of shift work like the police do. We’ll be on duty for 24 hours and still expected to go to court the next day. I can’t have people do 36 or 48 hours on duty, but that’s how the rotas come out – it’s brutal.’
Jay felt ‘lucky my firm is very committed to access to justice’.
Shentons said Jay will continue to practise criminal law and in her new role oversee the firm’s strategic direction.
