Morning Briefing: Women in law still earning far less than male colleagues

Women in law still earning far less than male colleagues
New figures from the US and Europe show that women in the legal profession are earning significantly less than their male colleagues. The Monster Wage Index Report used data from Q1 and Q2 of this year and collected from the US, UK, Germany and Spain. The total sample size was almost 50,000. The highest wage gaps appeared in the healthcare; finance and insurance; legal; and education and research fields. These fields show women earning between 35 and 43 per cent less than men. The legal sector was towards the top end of the scale with 40 per cent of women earning less.
 
Allen & Overy changes wages policy
The more junior members of Allen & Overy staff will be getting a pay increase following a review by the London firm. Despite the rest of the magic circle increasing their compensation packages A&O had a pay freeze for most staff. They have now decided to improve the salaries of trainees and other junior staff which will be backdated to the start of the financial year in May.
 
India may get even further away for foreign firms
India’s new administration may be keen to embrace more foreign investment by opening up sectors such as insurance but there seems to be less hunger to do the same for the legal profession. Speaking at a conference of the US India Business Council (USIBC), Supreme Court advocate Meenakshi Lekhi said that the lndian law business is very competitive and she wants to protect domestic firms from losing out to foreign firms and getting nothing in return. She told delegates that they are welcome in India but that Indian lawyers should be given the same access to work in the US. The USIBC said at the conference that its aim is to increase cooperation between US and Indian firms.
 
UK government plans to use a 650 year old law against terror group
A medieval law may be used to prosecute UK citizens who travel to the Middle East to join terrorist organisations such as Islamic State. The Treason Act of 1351 remains on the statute book but has not been used since the end of World War II. Since 1998 the maximum sentence has been life imprisonment, previously it was death.
 
Author claims Disney stole her memoirs for blockbuster movie
A Peruvian author claims that Disney stole a number of episodes from her life story and used them in the blockbuster movie Frozen. Isabella Tanikumi says that there are 18 parts of the US$1.2 billion-grossing animation that were lifted from her autobiography and she has filed a US$250 million lawsuit against the movie studio. Disney denies her claims and calls them “beyond ridiculous”.