Jean Hill (admitted 1943) was one of three daughters and she would often joke that had there been a son, she would not have studied law and might instead have become a poet. She joined Hill Thomson and Sullivan, the firm her father Arthur founded in 1910, and went on to be partner.
Pike Verekers Law
The firm later merged with Pike Pike and Fenwick, which today is Pike Verekers Law.
Some of the barriers were weakened during the war years. Articles were easier to obtain due to the number of prospective lawyers on active duty, and by the end of the decade another 32 women had been added to the roll of practitioners.
The women started to meet informally, first in late 1941 in Pike’s home, then at the Feminist Club in King Street. They turned up to the Incorporated Law Institute of NSW’s Institute’s AGMs – Marie Byles, Veronica Pike and Jean Hill were to become regulars – and they were no mere spectators.
Marie Byles rates several mentions in the minutes, suggesting a public information brochure regarding solicitors’ bills of costs and requesting monthly general meetings on more than one occasion. Neither was acted upon by the Council, but Byles was not the only member to be rebuffed on the question of more regular meetings.
Extracted from Defending the Rights of All: A History of the Law Society of NSW by Michael Pelly and Caroline Pierce