Claudia Santos Cruz highlights the need for sustainable legal careers for women in Africa

At the IBA African Regional Forum conference, Claudia Santos Cruz, Partner of Morais Leitão and MDR Advogados, moderated the session “Women lawyers keynote address and fireside chat”, with contributions from Feizin Amlani (Excellent Consulting) and Sarah McKenzie (Webber Wentzel), where she stressed the urgent need for African law firms to create sustainable career paths for women lawyers in order to avoid the loss of qualified talent.

During the discussion, our lawyer noted that the 24/7 work culture continues to be seen as inevitable, but that this has serious consequences. It is not possible to move forward as a profession while continuing to lose the talent and experience of those who wish to enjoy both a family and a career.

Claudia also emphasised that remuneration alone is no longer enough to ensure talent retention:

“It’s not just about compensation; I think that is the novelty of the last 10 years. People used to join the profession because it was intellectually challenging and also very well remunerated. It’s not enough anymore.”

Recognising that cultural change will not happen immediately, Claudia reinforced the need for adaptation:

“It’s unlikely the culture will change radically in the short term, but we do need to manage the consequences of some of these issues.”

In addition to the session dedicated to women lawyers, Claudia also spoke at the plenary roundtable “Doing business in Africa: legal realities behind the headlines”, which brought together lawyers from different regions of the continent to discuss the legal challenges of transactions in Africa.

The conference took place in Johannesburg on 18 and 19 September and brought together lawyers from various jurisdictions to debate technological integration, global trends and the impact of ESG criteria on legal practice.

Claudia Santos Cruz’s active presence at this conference reinforces the role of Morais Leitão and MDR Advogados in the international debate on legal practice in Africa, particularly with regard to promoting more inclusive and sustainable careers.

Read the full article on The Global Legal Post.