For many lawyers entering the legal industry, myself included, the bright shiny title of “Partner” is the ultimate goal. Fresh-faced, energized and motivated to work hard, I was one of many female lawyers to have embarked on the journey, blissfully ignorant of the concrete wall that lay ahead and the price that would have to be paid to knock it down.

How do you define professional success? A corner office, overlooking the city? A hefty wallet, filled to the brim with cash? Or a colourful career, littered with accolades, awards, and increasingly senior titles? 

In the U.K. there’s no shortage of women entering the legal industry, with about half of lawyers in law firms being women. However, as you progress up the ladder of seniority, the scales start to tip, with only one-third of law firm partners being women.

Given that English is not a grammatically gendered language, like French or Spanish, the generic masculine is fairly restricted in modern day use. Despite this, the gender masculine remains pervasive in the legal industry.

Marketing a law firm isn’t easy because law is an inherently dull topic – unless you’re actually a lawyer you’re unlikely to find the nuts and bolts of recent legal case interesting, and even then it’s questionable! But, despite this, I believe law firms can do a lot more to make their social media marketing interesting and more effective, so this article sets out the three mistakes I see being made over and over again.