We would like to broaden the networking opportunities for Middle Temple members, expanding our horizons beyond the self-employed Bar. The qualities that attract people to the Bar, the energy that drives them forward to qualification and joining an Inn, do not end if they leave the Bar. We must not lose touch with our members when they leave the ranks of those who remain closest to us in the Bar and Judiciary. The Bar attracts students and practitioners who have transferable skills such as an entrepreneurial drive which takes them to the city, setting up a business, and working abroad. Middle Temple loses out if we lose connection with our members as they move beyond the Temple. The Forum is well grounded in the principles of the Inn which created and shaped it. It will strive to play its part in the Strategic Plan for Middle Temple. Master Oliver and Catherine Quinn spotted an unmet need at the Bar. Tribute should be paid to them for their foresight. As Catherine Quinn has said when reflecting on her time at the Inn ‘If I am proud of one thing I did whilst Under Treasurer of Middle Temple, it is having begun this initiative, which appears to mean so much to so many’. We are doing our best to meet the heightened expectations of members of the Inn, but there is no room for complacency. There is much work to be done if we, and our Inn, are to harness and maximise the wealth of skills which Middle Temple has nurtured.
Master Delahunty has been a member of the Temple Women’s Forum Steering Group since its inception in 2012. She was Called to the Bar in 1986 and took Silk in 2006. She practises from 4 Paper Buildings and returns to the Family Bar having represented 77 bereaved families in the Hillsborough Inquests in 2014/5 for which she and the family lawyers were awarded the 2016 Legal Aid Lawyer ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’. Within the Family Division, she specialises in cases involving the death of/catastrophic injuries to a child, sex abuse and ritualized abuse alongside ISIS/radicalism cases. She is a Recorder and was appointed Professor of Law by Gresham College London (est. 1597) in 2016.
60
Elaine Banton was Called to the Bar in 1996 and practises at 7 Bedford Row Chambers. Elaine has specialised in employment, discrimination law and human rights from the outset of her career. She is a co-author of the chapter on Human Rights and Employment Law for Tolley’s Employment Law. Formerly Treasurer of the Discrimination Law Association for six years. Elaine was named a ‘Pro Bono Hero’ for 2009 by the Attorney General’s Office. Elaine is a member of the Bar Council’s Equality Diversity and Social Mobility Committee and also the Temple Women’s Forum.
Temple Women’s Forum: A History and the Future