International Journal of the Legal Profession
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Exploring female lawyers’ competence in
Ghanaian law firms: clients’ perspective
Samuel Howard Quartey, Beryl Akuffo-Kwapong & Damian Etone
To cite this article: Samuel Howard Quartey, Beryl Akuffo-Kwapong & Damian Etone (2021):
Exploring female lawyers’ competence in Ghanaian law firms: clients’ perspective, International
Journal of the Legal Profession, DOI: 10.1080/09695958.2020.1863218
To link to this article:  https://doi.org/10.1080/09695958.2020.1863218
Published online: 07 Jan 2021.
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION
https://doi.org/10.1080/09695958.2020.1863218
Exploring female lawyers’ competence in Ghanaian law
firms: clients’ perspective
Samuel Howard Quarteya, Beryl Akuffo-Kwapongb and Damian Etonec
aDepartment of Adult Education and HR Studies, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana;
bDepartment of Business Administration, Ashesi University, Accra, Ghana; cDivision of Law and
Philosophy, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to explore how clients perceive the competence of female lawyers in
Ghanaian law firms. As an exploratory qualitative study, thematic analytic approach
was used to analyse the interview data gathered from 15 clients of law firms. The
findings reveal that clients consider the gender of lawyers when making hiring
decisions and determining competence. The findings also suggest that clients
consider legal expertise, professionalism, knowledgeability, gender attributes, and
social interaction as critical determinants of female lawyers’ competence in law
firms. We suggest that managers of law firms should understand and consider the
role of clients in competence development. Managers of law firms could also
manage gender-based competence biases of clients and improve practice
management by implementing effective gender policies and client–lawyer
relationship management strategies. The wider implication for the gender schema
theory is that gender schemas of clients affect competency measurement and
assessment. The current competence-based theorizations in management science
could consider client perspective.
1. Introduction
The global economy has shifted from a manufacturing to a service-based
sector and the legal profession and legal service providers are not different.
The legal profession now functions in a buyers’ market and law firms
operate in the service sector. However, we know little about the unique chal-
lenges faced by lawyers in the legal service sector. Given the persistent need of
clients for increased efficiency, predictability and cost effectiveness of the ser-
vices provided by the law firms, the dynamics of demand and supply of
lawyers have undergone profound long-term changes (Georgetown Law
Center for Study of the Legal Profession and Peer Monitor 2015). The
supply-side, which indicates the hiring of lawyers by law firms has now
focused on competence as a hiring standard. Law firms have to be more
attractive to clients by having competent lawyers and being competent
service firms. This is essential because lawyers have to prove themselves as
capable of meeting the needs of their clients to remain competitive in the
CONTACT Samuel Howard Quartey shquartey@ug.edu.gh
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
legal service market (Hilton and Migdal 2005). The demand-side, which
explains hiring of lawyers by clients is based on perception as new clients
are less likely to know which lawyers are competent. Li (2018) explained
that the demand-side of lawyers has become critical because the knowledge
of law and the provision of legal services are highly specialized expertise.
Nowadays, perception plays a key role in client preferences for particular
lawyers because they choose certain lawyers if they perceive them as compe-
tent enough to meet their legal needs (Moorhead et al. 2003). Thus, we argue
that the demand and supply of lawyers and their competence explain why
clients choose firms and why lawyers lose clients (Johnson 2000).
Competence, as a term, has multiple definitions and is generally used to
describe prerequisites such as the specific education and training requirements
necessary for permission to practice within a particular occupation; an
outcome, that is, performance to a set standard; and as a capability exercised
in accomplishing specific work tasks (Gherardi 2000). For the purposes of
this study, competence is used to mean acceptable competence as argued by
Sherr and Paterson (2008). On the other hand, legal competence is a
complex concept with less clarity (Cooper 1991) and it broadly encapsulates
the capacity of a lawyer to make rational decisions and fully participate in
legal proceedings to deliver quality service with the aim to satisfying clients
(Moorhead et al. 2003). Compared to other lines of business, lawyers maintain
a highly confidential relationship with their clients, with a fiduciary duty to act
in the latter’s best interests. As such, lawyers are subject to strict ethical codes
and heavy regulation designed for the purposes of securing the clients’ indepen-
dent access to justice (Webb 2013; Parker et al. 2010). This standpoint echoes
the view that legal competence, in whichever form, should constitute an ethical
lawyering and a critical aspect of legal professionalism (Bartlett and Aitken
2009). The existing view has been that knowledgeable, experienced, caring
and professional lawyers can deliver justice to their clients (Jimenez 2019;
Hilton and Migdal 2005). However, whether female lawyers are competent
requires clients to decide.
As a developing country, Ghana’s legal framework struggles to address socio-
economic and educational gender imbalances and to remove the impediments
to sustainable national development and create a situation where gender equity
prevails and women have equal rights, equal responsibilities, and equal access to
every aspect of national life (Appiah 2015). Consequently, though Ghana has
seen tremendous social change resulting in transformation in gender roles
(Wrigley-Asante 2011), the gender issues relating to the economic, sociocul-
tural and legal-political aspects of the society have resulted in discrimination
and dynamic stereotypes, with subsequent effect on management practices
(Bosak et al. 2018). Moreover, the country’s legal profession and legal service
markets also lack a standardized measurement, definition and evaluation of
legal competence to help clients make proper decisions regarding who to hire
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION 3
and fire. Even more, most clients depend on referrals and personal judgements
to identify, choose and hire preferred lawyers. Since clients are more likely to
make decisions regarding which gender they prefer to hire based on compe-
tence, it is critical to understand how clients perceive the competence of
female lawyers and how gender influences lawyer competence when making
hiring decisions. Consequently, this paper specifically seeks to understand
clients’ perception of female lawyers’ competence in law based on interviews
with clients of top tier law firms. This paper focuses largely on female
lawyers because they are a relatively neglected group within the labour
systems and their interactions with legal clients are less examined, especially
in Ghanaian law firms.
2. Theoretical background
2.1. Gender schema theory
This paper draws on gender schema theory, developed by Bem (1981), to
explore how clients perceive the competence of female lawyers in Ghanaian
law firms. This theory is critical because it can help explain how individuals
become gendered in society, and how sex-linked characteristics are maintained
and transmitted to other members of a culture (Lips 2017). This theory can
provide the basis for understanding how gender schemas influence clients
behaviours (Ye et al. 2018). The theory stresses cognitive processes and lends
support to clients’ perception as a cognitive process which involves receiving,
organizing and interpreting information from and about the legal service
environments to determine competence (Wang and Degol 2017). The theory
highlights competence development as relating to increase in knowledge,
skills, abilities and attributes that enable individuals to proficiently execute
tasks, thereby supporting the view that schemas relate to competence (Martin
et al. 2002).
Gender schema theory emphasizes that gender develops through an infor-
mation processing approach (Brannon 2016). The basis of this theory is cogni-
tive representation called a schema, which is an organizing structure that helps
people simplify and categorize new information about social phenomenon
(Starr and Zurbriggen 2017). Gender schema theorists proposed two forms
of gender-related schemas – superordinate and own-sex schemas (e.g.
Brannon 2016; Bem 1981). The superordinate schema helps people to categor-
ize objects, characteristics and traits into basic male and female categories
whereas the own-sex schema helps people identify and learn in-depth infor-
mation consistent with their own sex. Donnelly and Twenge (2017) were of
the view that these two schema types help people to process information
about events, objects, attitudes, behaviours and roles and, in turn, categorize
these aspects in terms of masculine or feminine. Thus, clients can dwell on
4 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
their gender-based informational structure to reinforce their perception of
competence.
Since masculinity and femininity exist only in the mind of the perceiver
(Brannon 2016), clients are likely to use gender schemas as yardstick for proces-
sing information and determining the competence of lawyers. Thus, clients are
more likely to dwell on their existing schemas to classify male and female
lawyers differently based on available information on competence. The use of
gender schemas can explain the ways in which clients attend to, acquire and
remember information; how they behave; and the kinds of attitudes they
develop (Ye et al. 2018). Therefore, gender schemas can help clients determine
the kinds of information they notice, encode, and remember, where inconsist-
ent information with the existing schema are overlooked and consistent infor-
mation being processed.
While gender schemas can be used to interpret and categorize information,
they can result in drawing incorrect inferences, which can lead to gender stereo-
typing (Kollmayer et al. 2018). Stereotypes are strongly held beliefs about the
characteristics, attributes, and behaviours of members of a particular group
(Hilton and Von Hippel 1996). Thus, clients’ belief about the characteristics,
attributes and behaviours of a particular gender is likely to affect their percep-
tion of competence and subsequent choice of lawyers. Since stereotypes
influence perceptions of individuals, they can also influence clients’ percep-
tions. Stereotypes influence gender roles (Basow 1992). Stereotypes are also
likely to influence the perception of male and female lawyers’ competence.
Gorman (2005) argued that gender stereotypes can influence the hiring of
women and men in organizations. Thus, we argue that clients may have
gender schemas regarding themselves and those of others and this can
influence their perception, definition and determination of competence. There-
fore, we further contend that understanding the influence of gender on the
competence of lawyers working in law firms is critical for managers to
manage its repercussions while managing the expectations of the clients. The
next section discusses the existing literature on legal competence.
2.2. Legal competence
The literature shows that there are two major issues limiting the use of the term
legal competence, which includes conceptualization and measurement (Pater-
son 1990). Conceptualizing legal competence lacks intellectual rigour and con-
ceptual clarity (Vernon et al. 1990). Regarding conceptualization, several
scholars have also looked more closely at the concept of legal competence
from two major perspectives – professional and client.
The professional perspective is the most dominating view on legal compe-
tence at the moment. This perspective emphasizes the capacity of lawyers to
perform certain tasks adequately or to a specific standard (Jimenez 2019).
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION 5
Several legal minds have debated this perspective with varying but interrelated
views. Spaak (2009) was of the view that legal practitioners demonstrate com-
petence through legally established ability to create legal norms or have legal
effects through and in accordance with enunciations to this effect. Hohfeld
(2001) also argued that legal competence connotes the ability of a lawyer or a
legal practitioner to change a legal position. Grosberg (2003) further indicated
that it is a professional expectation for lawyers to satisfy the following require-
ments in the practice of law: passing the bar examination, securing law school
admission, and attending law school, to be considered as competent. These
studies have shown that legal competence connotes the ability of a lawyer or
a legal practitioner to meet professionally induced legal requirements.
Client perspective is a nascent view on legal competence and emphasizes that
customer satisfaction should be a key indicator of lawyer competence (Johnson
2000). Rutten et al. (2017) opined that the client perspective of legal service pro-
vision and lawyer discipline is somewhat overlooked. Also, the current litera-
ture has given less attention to client perception as a critical factor for
assessing legal competence (e.g. Strevens et al. 2019; Pinnington 2011; Barton
et al. 2006). Therefore, clients’ perception should be considered as another
way to assess lawyer competence, as clients can attest to lawyers’ ability to profi-
ciently execute legal assignments (Cooper 1991). In the legal service markets,
clients’ assessment of lawyers’ competence is mostly based on legal qualifica-
tions, certifications, referrals, and word of mouth (Zacharias 2008), and
clients’ judgement of competence influences their hiring behaviours and
decisions (Hilton and French 2007). Though word of mouth from a friend or
relative is often used, it may not help much because their experience may be
in a different area of law or tainted by image management.
Despite the view that lawyers must be competent enough to secure clients’
independent access to justice, one aspect of legal markets which has eluded
legal service delivery is the ability of the clients to determine lawyers’ compe-
tence. However, clients’ perception of competence might be limited by lack
of contextual information within the legal profession. This is because large
areas of legal competence remain invisible to clients, as they may not have
any idea what constitutes a good settlement or sentence in their case, or how
much time should reasonably have been spent working on those cases (Li
2018). Despite the natural information asymmetry between lawyers and
clients, it is logical and necessary to provide standardized definition, measure-
ment and evaluation of competence to help clients make appropriate decisions
when hiring lawyers. This is because the legal service providers recruit and train
lawyers who can satisfy their clients. However, both the professional and client
views on legal competence are imperative for understanding competence in law
firms.
Furthermore, measuring legal competence is difficult given the diverse stan-
dards applied globally. Most scholars have argued that legal competence lacks
6 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
universal definition and understanding and have made several calls to standar-
dize the measurement and evaluation of lawyers’ competence (e.g. Spaak 2009;
Paterson 1990; Suni 2007). A universal definition of legal competence is critical
because it matters to clients and plays a significant role in choosing legal ser-
vices and subsequently legal service providers (Moorhead et al. 2003). The
American Bar Association (2006) measures legal competence by the extent to
which an attorney is specifically knowledgeable about the field of law in
which he or she practises; performs the techniques of such practice with skill;
manages such practice efficiently; identifies issues beyond his or her compe-
tence relevant to the matter undertaken; bringing these to the clients’ attention;
properly prepares and carries through the matter undertaken; and is intellec-
tually, emotionally and physically capable. For the purposes of this study, we
define legal competence as the ability of a lawyer to do the job properly and
accurately. Thus, this study seeks to understand the determinants of female
lawyers’ competence and subsequent influence of gender in understanding
lawyer competence using a qualitative method. The next section describes
and justifies the methodological choices made to explore clients’ perception
of competence of female lawyers.
3. Research methodology
3.1. Research setting
This study was conducted on law firms based in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
Ghana is a country in the Sub-Saharan Africa and West-Africa Sub-region.
The law firms were chosen for four reasons. First, while there is a growing
number of law schools, there is also a rising number of law firms in the
country. Second, most of the licensed lawyers often find themselves practicing
law either in other law firms or set up their own law firms. Third, compared to
males, legal training of females is increasing at an exponential rates and more
female lawyers are entering the legal profession and working in law firms.
Fourth, there is a relatively little information on the definition of legal compe-
tence for clients to base their hiring decisions on, therefore, clients of law firms
often rely on their perceptions and personal judgement in determining lawyers’
competence.
3.2. Sample and data collection
We conducted in-depth interviews with 15 clients from three big law firms
located in Accra. The law firms and clients were purposively selected. The
purpose sampling technique was adopted because the participants had years
of experience in dealing with each other (Creswell 2013). Demographically,
the clients were eight males and seven females. They had an average of 6.9
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION 7
years’ experience in dealing with the law firms. The most experienced had 20
years’ experience and the least experience had one year. Most of the clients
were in 37–53 age range. Most of the clients occupied top-level managerial pos-
itions in their respective organizations including five Chief Executive Officers
(CEOs); two Managing Directors; three Divisional Managers; and five
Directors.
Data were collected through in-depth interviews. The researchers sent out an
invitation to participate to the law firms. After their acceptance to participate,
we were given the permission to contact clients. Clients were contacted and
were also sent an invitation to participate with informed consent forms. We
obtained informed consent forms from 15 clients and then the interviews
started using an interview guide. Sample questions on the interview guide
included: How long have you been a client to this law firm? Would you
prefer being represented by a male or female lawyer? And why? How would
you define the competence of a female lawyer? The nature of the interview ses-
sions allowed an “emic” understanding of the experiences of the clients, the
extent to which they were similar or differed and especially how they inter-
preted their experiences with lawyers and female lawyers in law firms’ and
the subsequent impact on their perception of competence. Each interview
lasted between 30 and 60 minutes. The entire interview activity lasted for 12
weeks. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed for analysis,
using the Nvivo9 qualitative software application.
3.3. Data analysis
We used Nvivo9 to code the data thematically. The inductive thematic analysis
allowed us to take note of emergent themes or categories (Braun and Clarke
2006). We also identified segments of the data as relating to, or being an
example of these emergent themes or categories. We did first order coding
and created some of the themes (e.g. professionalism, knowledgeable, gender
attributes, and social interaction, legal expertise, specialized legal cases, work-
life balance, and gender attitudes). This first order coding involved descriptive
interpretations of the data, which we used to create first order themes and
managed to adhere faithfully to informant terms (Gioia et al. 2013). As the
coding progressed, new first-order themes were created or merged according
to the data. We tried to capture clients’ experiences and perceptions of
lawyers’ competence. Next, we also did second order coding and created
second order themes moving towards a more theoretical understanding of
our data (e.g. determinants of female lawyers’ competence and the influence
of gender on lawyers’ competence). Consistent with the views of Corbin and
Strauss (1990), the inductive thematic analysis allowed us to move beyond
the initial descriptive analysis of the data into the theoretical realm. In order
to theorize, we conceptualized clients’ views on legal expertise, professionalism,
8 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
knowledgeable, gender attributes and social interaction as “determinants of
female lawyers’ competence”. We further conceptualized clients reports on
specialized legal cases, work-life balance and gender attitudes as “the
influence of gender on lawyers’ competence”. Looking at the two second
order themes, we concluded that they were relevant enough to explain how
clients perceive the competence of female lawyers and subsequent influence
of gender on competence in law firms. The next section discusses the major
findings.
4. Discussion of findings: clients’ perception and lawyers’
competence in law firms
The findings are presented and discussed starting with the influence of gender
on lawyers’ competence, as a major theme with subthemes such as specialized
legal cases, work-life balance and gender attitudes. Again, we further present
and discuss clients’ perception of determinants of female lawyers’ competence
with subthemes such as legal expertise, professionalism, knowledgeable, gender
attributes and social interaction. We include relevant quotes from the clients to
support each of the identified themes and subthemes.
4.1. The influence of gender on lawyers’ competence
Part of the conversation was to delve into how gender, if it does, influences the
choice of competent lawyers. Almost all of the clients revealed that gender does
influence their choice of competent lawyers. According to some of the clients,
predominance of one gender in a particular field of law may lead to such gender
biases and in cases where most of the lawyers that work on litigation cases are
men, thus, women tend to have limited choices in the area of litigation:
I am not gender biased; I do not have a preference. If I were getting a divorce, maybe I
will prefer a woman. (Male Client 4)
With respect to what I do with this particular firm, I do not have any preference. I
think if a woman is defending you in a divorce court, it will make a stronger case psy-
chologically. But for corporate work, I am indifferent. (Female Client 2)
There are more female corporate lawyers who prefer to be in the office than males.
And you have more male lawyers practicing litigation than females. And so when
you have to choose between a pool of litigation lawyers, the chances are that you
will go for male lawyers who have been practicing litigation for years than their
female counterparts. (Female Client 15)
The findings demonstrate that gender plays a significant role in the assess-
ment of competence in law firms. The findings further revealed that compe-
tence has everything to do with gender identity, which is a fundamental part
of gender schema. This finding echoes the view of Bem (1981) that individuals
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION 9
develop gender schemas by gathering and processing information about their
environments and interactions, and that a person’s identity, whether male or
female, can be developed through both superordinate and self-schemas. Con-
sistent with the views of Starr and Zurbriggen (2017) schemas are important
because individuals’ perception of gender can define who we are and sub-
sequently influence how they perceive us as competent. Clients perception
can be influenced by existing or new gender information, which may help cat-
egorize lawyers as either competent or not. Though not often conscious, clients
are more likely to use gender schemas as yardstick for processing information
and determining the competence of lawyers. Earlier studies have argued that
masculinity and femininity exist in the minds of the perceivers, thus, gender
can be a subconscious tool for classifying male and female lawyers differently
based on available information on their legal competence either through experi-
ence or natural preferences (e.g. Donnelly and Twenge 2017; Brannon 2016).
This finding is consistent with the recent position of the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which argues that criminal justice prac-
titioners (including Lawyers) are not immune from social and cultural gender
norms and that they must remain aware of the stereotypes, perceptions and atti-
tudes that can influence their actions and responses (UNODC 2019). This pos-
ition further contends that female lawyers should represent female victims and
perpetrators of crime because they are more informed of women’s special needs
(UNODC 2019).
As suggested by some of the clients, they perceived a particular gender to be
competent in certain specialized legal cases and fields. Some of them believe
that women are better lawyers in areas that involve family law such as
divorce. Although some of the clients said they are not gender-biased, biases
were a cognitive issue, as they confirmed what some clients mentioned that if
a woman is defending you in a divorce court, it will make a stronger case psy-
chologically. Therefore, considering gender in choosing competent lawyers can
lead to gender stereotype, which may be conscious or unconscious. This is
because stereotypes can directly or indirectly influence gender role expectations
(Hilton and Von Hippel 1996), and gender roles can also influence perception
of lawyer competence.
The findings further revealed that work-life balance is an important yardstick
for assessing the competence of lawyers. Work-life balance is generally a
gendered spot. This is because it is widely believed that women struggle
with achieving a balance between family and work-life. Clients were more
likely to consider work-life balance when choosing a competent lawyer, as it
was a major concern for some lawyers. The findings also showed that a
lawyer’s ability to combine both personal and work demands makes them
competent:
10 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
Sometimes the women give birth and then they are not very active at the work place,
so you want to look at that too. (Male Client 1)
A lot of female lawyers have gone to set up their own law firms because they cannot
combine family and work pressure. (Male Client 8)
Most of the female lawyers leave because the work is busy and demanding and I look
at all of these when choosing a lawyer. (Female Client 6)
These findings suggest that work-life balance is an important consideration
in assessing competent lawyers and can be a critical issue for progression in
certain organizations. In the legal practice and profession, work–life balance
of lawyers has become a major concern for managers and partners (Hakim
2006; Thornton 2016). For example, Hakim (2006) contended that not all
lawyers wish to advance to higher levels in their organizations due to inconsi-
derate work–family/life policies in law firms. This contention echoes the view of
Thornton (2016) that the principals and partners of law firms, like their corpor-
ate clients, are more concerned about cutting costs and maximising profits than
whether the lawyers they employ are able to attain a good life at home and at the
workplace.
In addition, a number of clients mentioned that they perceive gender atti-
tudes as critical influence and determinants of competent lawyers. The analysis
showed that the attitude between males and females make a difference in the
assessment and choice of competent lawyer in law firms. The findings demon-
strated that competent female lawyers were expected to be more tentative,
patient, cooperative and understanding. The clients further revealed that
these characteristics were some of the yardsticks for hiring competent
lawyers. This is because, according to some of the clients, these traits bring
different skills and abilities to the table when determining who to hire:
I think the female lawyers are more tentative to how we can overcome obstacles in a
listing process as compared to the male lawyers. (Male Client 3)
The females are more patient and understanding as compared to the way they handle
listing as compared to the male who rush and are more impatient with their accessi-
bility. (Male Client 6)
While a male lawyer is like “I know it” I have got this together, the likelihood of him
coming back to ask pertinent questions on issues is reduced versus a woman, she will
come in and she will ask without the “I know it all” syndrome and I link that to asking
for directions. (Female Client 5)
It is all about emotional intelligence as well. So the female lawyers are more coopera-
tive with a lot more interaction than male lawyers. “It depends. They each bring
different things to the table… So I think when it comes to something like mediation,
you want someone who is more emotionally intelligent and can assess the situation
and how to deal with a Judge, the opposing counsel and so I have certain instances
where I have found out that. (Female Client 1)
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION 11
Competence in law explains the capacity of a lawyer to make rational
decisions and fully participate in legal proceedings to deliver quality service
with the aim to satisfying clients (Moorhead et al. 2003). Thus, these findings
support the notion of gendered competence and provide evidence to suggest
that clients use gender as a mental framework when choosing or deciding
which competent lawyer to hire. Consistently, Seymour (2009) argued that
every organization is a gendered workplace and work requirements are often
gendered including competence. Adding to an understanding of the gendered
nature of work and the workplace, this study has revealed the distinctive gen-
dered nature of competence among men and women in law firms, highlighting
the complex interplay of gendered work requirements in gendered organiz-
ations. The views of some of the clients have shown that there is a subtle disparity
in how clients perceive competence betweenmale and female lawyers, more gen-
erally. Female lawyers were seen as more tentative, patient, cooperative and
understanding as compared to male counterparts influence how competence
is defined and perceived in law firms. For example, Hilton and Von Hippel
(1996) support the belief that gender characteristics, attributes and behaviours
can lead to stereotypes. Due to the natural information asymmetry in legal prac-
tice (Li 2018), clients are likely to use personal judgement and criteria when
hiring lawyers (e.g. Hilton and French 2007; Cooper 1991; Paterson 1990).
However, these findings echo the views of Huddy and Terkildsen (1993) that
these characteristics are typical feminine traits used in describing female pro-
fessionals at the workplace. Moreover, the findings of this study are inconsistent
with the notion of likability versus competence trap, which Schneider et al.
(2010) suggested that there is no difference between how female and male
lawyers are perceived in terms of their effectiveness, herein, competence. There-
fore, the current findings suggest that clients can demonstrate gender difference
when defining and assessing competence among lawyers in law firms.
4.2. Determinants of female lawyers’ competence
The analysis of the interviews showed that clients used different criteria in
determining the competence of female lawyers in law firms. According to the
findings, some of the clients perceive competent female lawyers as having
legal expertise. A number of clients said that a competent female lawyer
must be seen to have legal expertise to get the job done effectively in the shortest
possible time:
I am only looking for female lawyers who can get the job done effectively. (Male
Client 7)
The competence of a female lawyer is important and also the turnaround time. If they
do their job well and they do it quickly, you know, so you have the assistance you need
in the shortest possible time. (Female Client 14)
12 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
This finding echoes the view of Stuckey (2016) that a competent lawyer per-
forms the techniques of law with skills, whereas expertise is developed through
experience and learning. Legal expertise is significant in the legal profession
because it guides clients to choose lawyers who can deliver timely legal
justice (Gilson 1990). Consistent with the view of Sherr (2000), legal experience
and expertise determine the quality of legal services to clients and define the
competence of lawyers.
The analysis further revealed that professionalism is a key determinant of
competent female lawyers. The findings suggest that professional female
lawyers can be considered as competent. The analysis showed that a female
lawyer is competent if she is able to handle cases in a professional way:
Female lawyers are very professional and ethical in the way they handle cases. (Male
Client 2)
This finding is important because clients generally believe that lawyers are
subject to strict ethical codes and heavy regulations which are supposed to
help them secure quality service and promises clients independent access to
justice. For example, Bartlett and Aitken (2009) underscored the significance
of professionalism in legal profession by highlighting that competence, in
whichever, form should constitute an ethical lawyering and a critical aspect
of legal professionalism.
Another way clients determined the competence of female lawyers was
through their knowledge-base of the law and the legal profession. The analysis
showed that a number of clients believe that knowledgeability is a key determi-
nant of competence among female lawyers in law firms. The findings revealed
that some of the clients felt that the knowledge of a female lawyer matters in
assessing her competence in the area of law. According to the findings,
having a knowledgeable female lawyer can influence the success of legal cases
in court:
If you meet a lawyer who is very tough, then, you have to find someone who can put
up a challenge in terms of knowledge. A female lawyer who is knowledgeable is good
and it is all part of the hiring strategy. (Female Client 3)
As I have told you, at the end of the day, it is about knowing your facts, being able to
express it eloquently and being able to express it when you are pushed, so I have no
problem and I shouldn’t have a problem with a female lawyer. (Male Client 8)
These findings echo the view of Webb (2013) who argued that legal compe-
tence includes knowledgeability, and is consistent with the view of Stuckey
(2016). Therefore, legal competence can be measured by the extent to which
lawyers are able to exhibit specific knowledge of a particular fields of law.
The analysis also showed that gender attributes were considered another
determinist of female lawyers’ competence. The findings also demonstrate
that most of the clients thought female lawyers are competent if they exhibit
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION 13
certain gender-based attributes including listening skills, dedication, sympath-
etic, understanding, respectful, tolerance, emotional intelligence, non-aggres-
sive, and cooperative. According to the clients, these attributes are feminine
and makes it easier for them to choose female lawyers. The findings revealed
that these feminine attributes influence clients’ decisions to choose female
lawyers depending on a particular case. According to some of the clients,
these traits can define and develop competence in female lawyers. Although
gender roles and attributes are currently changing, the current findings
suggest that some of the clients were more stereotypical in determining the
competence of female lawyers:
The way women ask questions…women are more respectful when they are talking
than the men. I will be very comfortable being represented by a woman. Traditionally,
women are less aggressive and seem to have a lot more understanding of people’s
strife and difficulties. Yes, that can influence my decision to hire them. (Male
Client 7)
Female lawyers are also very dedicated to the case that they are handling. So dedica-
tion here means that the constant communication with the client, giving the client
periodic, daily or weekly or monthly updates on the case and how it’s happening,
and should be able to have a strategy based on the brief that has been given to her.
(Female Client 6)
Understanding, more embracing, more tolerant and more sympathetic in explaining
to you where you do not understand. A lot more time in engaging than the male
lawyers. Women are emotionally intelligent, more of partners. (Female Client 5)
Female lawyers have to be very strict and slightly inflexible. The female lawyers are
very strict and they want you to be specific when telling them your story about the
case that you want them to handle than the male counterparts. (Male Client 1)
These findings lend support to the views of Hilton and Von Hippel (1996)
that the belief that certain female characteristics, attributes and behaviours con-
stitute competence can lead to stereotypical hiring behaviours in law firms.
Using attributes to describe a particular gender group can lead to stereotypes,
which is a natural extension of the gender schema theorem (Bem 1981). These
gender attributes constitute gender role expectation. According to Gorman
(2005), these gender role expectations which lead to stereotypes can also
influence the hiring of women by clients. Bosak et al. (2018) also opined that
males and females in Ghana are currently undergoing dynamic gender stereo-
types, where both genders are now developing new ways of viewing their roles,
attributes and personalities to meet modern expectations of gender roles and
attributes.
Social interaction was also considered another determinant of legal compe-
tence among female lawyers in law firms. According to the findings, one of the
clients said they hire lawyers with whom they can have personal and informal
relationships, which influences their choice of female lawyers. This suggests
14 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
that female lawyers are competent if they are able to have sound relationship
with their clients:
Whether male or female, a lawyer should learn to develop interpersonal relationship
with his or her clients. Because that facilitates proper communication. (Female Client
13)
It is not because she is a female lawyer. As a client I want my female attorney or repre-
sentative to be more friendly and socially-interactive. That way, I am able to know
exactly what she does and can trust her more to defend our company. It is just
about making the client happy, that is all. (Male Client 4)
The existing literature reveals that relationship between clients and lawyers
are critical for developing new knowledge and gaining deep experiences
about legal practice. For example, Suseno Pinnington Gardner and Shulman
(2006) were of the view that social capital is relevant for developing other capi-
tals including intellectual capital such as knowledge, skills and experiences.
Consistent with the views of Strevens et al. (2019), appraisal of competence
should consider lawyer–client relationship as relationship with clients
can help lawyers and their law firms deliver quality service with the aim to
satisfying them.
5. Conclusion and implications
This paper contributes to the competence-based literature by emphasizing on
client level of analysis. This is because earlier discussions on competence
have focused more attention on employee level (e.g. Gonczi and Hager 2010;
Mulder et al. 2007) as well as firm level of analysis (e.g. Foss and Knudsen
2013; Hodgson 1998). The competence-based literature highlights that firms
are repositories of competent employees and it is firms’ ability to accumulate,
protect, and deploy these competent employees that determine their long-
term competitive advantages (Foss and Knudsen 2013). Therefore, we argue
that law firms’ competiveness depends on their ability to determine, define
and develop lawyer competence by considering clients’ perspective. Clients
are critical to market competiveness because firms often aim to make them
happy by offering quality products and services by developing competence.
Another contribution to the literature is providing support for the gender
schema theory (Bem 1981) by suggesting that clients perception of female
lawyers’ competence can directly and indirectly lead to gender stereotyping.
Gender schema perspective explains that clients gather and process information
from their interactions with their environments and objects in order to make
certain conclusions.
We further argue that clients’ interactions with law firms and lawyers can
help them perceive competence, which might influence their patronage of
legal service. In addition, this paper advances client perspective of legal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION 15
competence (e.g. Strevens et al. 2019; Pinnington 2011; Barton et al. 2006;
Rutten et al. 2017). Though nascent, the client view emphasizes that customer
satisfaction should be a key indicator of lawyer competence. Client satisfaction
is relevant because our interviewees were repeated player clients (Galanter
1974). This is because the clients were largely corporations and in-house
counsel. This finding reiterates the view of Pinnington (2011) that client
relationship is one of the notable areas of heterogeneity in competence in law
firms.
Practically, practice management in law firms can be improved if managers
can appreciate the role of clients in competence assessment and development.
The current paper provides insights into gender-based competence biases by
clients and further highlights the potential value of formulating and imple-
menting human resources management policies around which such issues
can be managed. Practice management can also be improved by implementing
effective gender policies and clients–lawyer relationship management strat-
egies. This is because liking a lawyer or a client because of their gender attri-
butes constitute gender stereotype and should not be encouraged in legal
practice and law firms. In the absence of standardized evaluation of legal com-
petence, managers of law firms would have to find a way to manage gender
stereotypes among clients by developing a competence inventory for specialized
areas of law for clients to choose instead of using gender as a yardstick. This is
because our findings suggest that clients use gender as a subtle tool for assessing
the competence of female lawyers when hiring. Moreover, to improve the
knowledge of lawyers in law firms, management of law firms could invest in
continuous legal education, training and certification for lawyers. This is vital
for the development of legal competence. Jimenez (2019) argued that continu-
ous legal education and training would improve professionalism and pro-
fessional development. One aspect of the findings that is critical for the
development of competence was work-life balance. Senior managers of law
firms could equally provide better social support system for employees
because it is necessary for lawyers, especially female lawyers to manage work-
life balance. Thornton (2016) stressed that law firms can improve work–life
balance between male and female legal practitioners by providing flexible
working hours. Also, law firms could improve wellbeing programmes by creat-
ing flexible work-schedules which can improve work conditions and help
female lawyers with families to have a good life at home and office.
6. Limitations and directions for future research
There are a few limitations worth noting, which provide avenue for future
research endeavours. Though the findings provide critical insights on the
above subject matter, the sample size was relatively small. The sample selection
was limited to 15 clients. Nonetheless, studies have argued that 10–15 clients
16 S. H. QUARTEY ET AL.
can qualify as requisite sample size for a qualitative research (e.g. Boddy 2016;
Robinson 2014). Thus, future research could increase the number of law firms
and the number of clients interviewed in order to draw deeper conclusions.
Though interviews provide deeper insights into sociocultural issues such as
gender, additional research might be needed to enlist and subsequently validate
determinants of lawyer competence through focus group discussion with
lawyers, law firms and clients. This might help kick-start a process of develop-
ing a standardized measure of competence for the legal profession. A theoretical
limitation is that less research has looked into this subject matter in African
countries, and this study provides an avenue to expand the literature on com-
petence of lawyers in these countries.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the clients and the law firms in Accra-Ghana for their
support. Invaluable insights from reviewers are also acknowledged. Informed consent was
obtained from all the participants in this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
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