In 1919, The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act was enacted, permitting women to practice law in Scotland, and in the same year, Madge Easton Anderson became the first woman to do so. For International Women’s Day 2025, we want to highlight and celebrate the women who followed in her footsteps. Read on as we interviewed Lindsay Hare and Emma Thomson, Gildeas Directors and personal injury specialists.
In the first part of our interview, they reflect on the highlights of their careers in personal injury law and offer advice to young people embarking on a legal career today.

Q: What led you to a legal career?

LH: Well, I had good results at school, and that’s pretty much what you fell into! I went straight from school to do my LLB at Strathclyde. Initially, I wanted to do medicine and then decided that I didn’t actually like blood very much! So I decided to do law instead. I’d applied for medicine then had to phone up the Law School at Strathclyde to ask if they’d consider my application, and they did. So, I just kind of fell into it.

ET: Slightly different for me, I did a BA in Business Law before I did my LLB. I preferred the legal modules, enjoyed formulating two sides of an argument or a story and decided to do my LLB afterwards.

Q: Who or what inspired you as a young lawyer?

LH: I was laughing when you asked this because I don’t think I can say Ally McBeal! I don’t think anyone will remember who she is! [Both laughing]

ET: Mine doesn’t necessarily relate to IWD, but my dad. My attention to detail comes from him. He is very hard-working. Neither of my parents went to university. My dad is very much – “If you’re going to do something, do it right.” Sometimes, I can’t switch my brain off until I’ve finished doing the task i’m working.

LH: For me, it’s the same – I was one of the first in my family to go to university, so I’m quite driven to do the best I can do and whatever I apply my mind to. We were brought up like that as well. I only had my dad, he continued to work after I lost my mum. He was very motivated at work, and he didn’t go to university either. He worked through the ranks of his job, and that’s the footsteps that we followed in. It’s work ethic.

Emma and I are probably quite similar – when I got into university, it was quite competitive. You were driven to be the best you could be, and certainly for me doing my Diploma, it went on grades for who got funded etc. It instilled that work ethic in me from an early stage of my career. I trained at Gildeas, and I was the only female Trainee when I started. If you want to do well, you have to work hard. When I came here, it was a much smaller firm. If you want to make a difference in a small firm, you need to pull your weight.

ET: I trained with a small firm as well and it was the same, you absolutely have to pull your weight. The law degree is quite competitive to get into, getting a place on Diploma is super competitive and is getting a Traineeship. Every year there can be peaks and troughs. For instance – the year before me, there were a lot of people who ended up working in the insurance industry because they couldn’t get Traineeships. It’s super, competitive.

LH: It’s hard work, you just need to be prepared to put the work in. I guess that’s what inspired us.

Q: Off the back of that, did you receive any advice early in your career which has stuck with you?

Both: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail! [Both laugh]

LH: We’re laughing at that, but there isn’t a truer statement.

ET: For me, I got a bit of advice – is it braver to admit you have made a mistake than to continue on a path that is not right for you.

LH: For the young staff, what I try and instil in the Trainees is – this is your Traineeship. You need to grab it with both hands. I’m not asking them to be cut-throat and outdo each other, it’s not about that. But it’s about applying yourself and absolutely pushing yourself to work as hard as you can and do as well as you can do. Really push yourself and don’t be scared to ask questions – if you don’t know an answer, that’s okay. But please don’t come to me without having tried to figure it out. That’s the approach I would take with anybody coming into the profession – they should be prepared to work hard, prepared to try and figure it out.

ET: You’re there for a reason.

LH: I guess that’s the advice that’s stuck with me because that’s the way I would like the Trainees to see their Traineeship – it’s their opportunity to grab it and push themselves on.

Q: What do you think are some of the barriers for young women in the legal industry today, and what advice would you give them?

LH: I think the statistics for women coming into law are higher than they’ve ever been. I don’t think it’s a barrier getting into the profession so much. It’s other areas of the profession where women struggle to make the same strides. If you walked into a university, the law classes would probably be predominantly female now. I think it was about 50/50 when I went to university, the balance is more in our favour now. But as they come through their careers, they have to be willing to cheerleader themselves. I think sometimes men are bolder about things like that.

I think some women, it’s just our nature to take a step back – and you need to be cheerleading yourselves. You need to be pushing. There’re obviously much deeper issues about if you go off on maternity and things like that, and how you come back – do people who work part-time get the same opportunities? How do you make those opportunities equal? So that’s an issue as you go through your career. But for younger lawyers – don’t be scared.

ET: Know your worth. Absolutely know your worth and fight for your worth. It’s not about what another person is doing, it’s about what you’re doing. And I think that’s it – as Lindsay said, be your own cheerleader.

LH: Yeah, don’t worry about other people, worry about yourself. I say that to my son all the time – life isn’t a competition. The only person you’re competing with is yourself, be the best you can be. That doesn’t matter if you’re not as good as the person next to you, or even if you’re better than the person next to you – as long as you’re being the best you can be, that’ll be recognised. That comes from hard work.

ET: My mum would give me that advice when I was younger, whereas my dad would advise – “If you’re going to do it, do it right.” My mum was very much like, “All you can do is do your best.” Going back to what Lindsay said, maybe when we started it was 50/50 split. I’m pretty sure during my time at Gildeas, the statistics issued from the Law Society was there were more women registering with practising certificates.

Q: Do you think there’s a reason why it’s tipped now?

LH: It’s an academic career. I think girls do slightly better at school, you tend to find girls are slightly more mature at school age. I haven’t seen the statistics on it though. I think where the issues lie within the profession are further up. The number of Partners or Directors that are female has always fallen behind the number of women in the profession overall. I think the statistics at the Bar and the Bench as well.

Q: What was it like for you to be promoted to Directors?

LH: I mean, I was the first female. So, it was quite a proud moment! I like to think that by doing that, you pave the way for others behind you. I was delighted when Emma showed an interest too, that I could help her in any way that I can. I was particularly proud because I’d been off on maternity, so I had to balance family life as well as work life. To be able to come back and still step into that role without being hindered – it is a bigger challenge coming back after being off for over a year. So, getting back and getting into that role, I was hugely proud. I’ve got a very supportive family, and the Board couldn’t be more supportive. They are very family-driven as well, so we’re lucky here for that – very lucky.

ET: For me too. I had a personal ambition of wanting to be Director before I turned 40. I was delighted when I was appointed weeks beforehand. I stared my traineeship later than some of my peers I didn’t go straight from school to complete my LLB. I did my law degree part-time and worked full-time, so it took me longer to do it, and I did my Diploma whilst I was working also. My appointment was an achievement personally as well as professionally. And it was great to make my parents proud, my dad was delighted. The hard work paid off. I’m really pleased to join Lindsay and be the second female on the Board. Hopefully we can bring a different perspective to management.

I do think that the Board is very supportive. For me, I don’t have a family, but they are supportive. Family time is important even if you don’t have kids – juggling family commitments is important.

LH: I think it’s important too having female leaders. We have talked about young staff but we have women at the other end of the spectrum, things like the menopause and managing people through that – it really does help to have a female perspective on the Board for stuff like that. We’ve had a few members of staff we’ve supported through it, and I know that they felt more comfortable coming to me about it. People generally feel more comfortable discussing issues with somebody who’s either experienced it, or going to experience it. I think we always take a slightly different approach to HR or personnel issues – I guess because by human nature, we see it from a slightly different perspective.

Q: That lens has an influence on your leadership?

LH: Yes, so I think it’s a really good balance to have both perspectives.

ET: Of course it is. We have both male and female staff, it’s good to have leadership in place for that.

LH: A lot of our trainees just now are female, I think it’s good for them to see that they can achieve this. The path is there for them. We have a lot of really bright young lawyers in here, really bright. If we can do anything to keep them here and they can see that they can achieve what we’re doing, we would be absolutely delighted.

ET: I think you’re right there. I had a conversation with one of our staff members about that recently, their career and how you progress your career. Being able to say, “Well, I joined here and then I went from Solicitor to Associate, then Senior Associate, then Director.” – it’s good for them to see there is a pathway. [Motions to LH] It’s good as well that you’ve got a family, and you can say you can have both, the balance is there.

Follow for part 2 when we reflect on #AccelerateAction, the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day 2025, and discuss the challenges women face navigating the legal profession today.

This interview was compiled by Samantha Upton, Marketing Manager at Gildeas Solicitors.

Gildeas Solicitors is a recognised law firm specialising in personal injury claims, supporting you throughout Scotland from our offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We’re passionate about what we do, whilst putting our clients’ interests first. That’s why we make personal injury personal.

Considering our services? Call our dedicated New Claims team on 0141 331 6070.