Veronica Pike had started her career as an articled clerk when her brother, Vincent, was admitted as a solicitor in 1929. She hadn’t completed her studies at the Solicitors Admission Board when her brother’s illness forced her to run the practice herself under the supervision of the prothonotary.
Regular court appearances
When she was admitted as a solicitor in 1940, she went into partnership with her well-again brother.
Pike was unusual among early women lawyers in that she appeared in court regularly as an advocate. She was renowned for her work on landlord-tenant disputes and workplace law.
Hers was not an unusual path for early women lawyers – for many it was the family firm that allowed them to practise.
Extracted from Defending the Rights of All: A History of the Law Society of NSW by Michael Pelly and Caroline Pierce