Professional monopolies and divisive practices in law: ‘les femmes juridiques’ in civil law, Canada

Abstract

This paper examines women’s entry and advancement within Québec’s, civil law tradition of a dual system of notaires and avocats in law practice. The two arms of the profession have developed along exclusive legal jurisdictions codified through law, contrasting professional structures, and different styles of legal practice. Yet, they share a common foundation through law school and professional training and their respective practices of law occasionally overlap and conflict in the competition for clientele, services and professional status. Women’s representation in Québec law practice has risen to nearly fifty percent and their entry to law in large numbers coincides with the emergence of exclusionary processes within and across the professional divide. Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital provides new insight to gendered career dynamics in law practice, specifically an understanding of cultural repertoires of resources mobilised in successful careers, resources that are also at the centre of disputes over the professional status and legal jurisdictions between notaires and avocats. The analysis demonstrates that women and men within these two professional groups are not only equipped with differential stocks of capital, but that the conversion rates also differ. Particularly among the avocats, men receive greater exchange on their investments in human and social capitals and their cultivated ‘habitus’ also better enables men to garner enhanced job rewards.