Gender Diversity for Romania

The 2021 edition of Chambers Europe has seen an increased focus on diversity and inclusion from the Chambers and Partners research team. The addition of diversity statistics in the submissions has helped researchers better assess the presence of diverse lawyers in each law firm, while the training provided in relation to gender bias and gendered language has helped further develop our research processes. 

Although in most European jurisdictions the number of ranked female practitioners continues to be less than their male counterparts, there is one jurisdiction that achieved a balanced gender split for the first time this year: Romania. From 2015 to 2021 there has been an 11% increase in the total number of ranked female lawyers across the Romanian sections covered by the guide. This reached a new high in the 2021 edition, with Romanian female practitioners holding 51% of all individual rankings across the jurisdiction's practice areas, almost double the European average of 26%.  

The practice areas with the highest proportion of women in Romania continue to be Energy & Natural Resources, Capital Markets and Employment, where women represent an average of 70% of the ranked lawyers. However, in the last 5 years we have also seen an increase in the number of women lawyers ranked in sections where they have been historically under-represented, such as Corporate/M&A and Banking & Finance, where the rankings of female practitioners increased by 20% and 22% respectively. 

Energy & Natural Resources stands out with women holding 73% of the rankings this year. Miruna Suciu of Suciu Popa and Ruxandra Bologa of Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen lead the way in the field, followed by Alina Stancu Birsan of Filip & Company, Gabriela Cacerea of Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen and Ramona Volciuc-Ionescu of Volciuc-Ionescu, among many others. 

Corporate/M&A recognizes the all-female team of Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen, composed by Adriana Gaspar, Ruxandra Bologa and Gabriela Cacerea. Madalina Neagu of Schoenherr and Ileana Glodeanu of Wolf Theiss are also among the leading professionals in the corporate area. 

In Banking & Finance, Dentons' Simona Marin is a particularly distinguished figure, notable for her quick ascent in rankings over the last 5 years. Alina Radu of NNDKP and Ana Radnev of CMS are also established figures in the sector. 

By contrast, Intellectual Property is the section with the lowest percentage of women practitioners, only reaching 25%. This section includes leading women such as Ana Maria Baciu of Simion & Baciu and Iulia Burbea of Milcev Burbea. 

The Romanian jurisdiction has a decade-long history of standing out among the other European countries for the presence of a high number of female lawyers within the legal profession and, consequently, our rankings. We believe the presence and visibility of leading women lawyers in the market has contributed to inspiring young women to pursue the same career paths, which led to the balanced gender split we are seeing today. This will remain a focus moving forward and we will continue to collaborate with law firms across Europe to ensure an equal gender representation in our guides of lawyers in all jurisdictions.