It's more likely to be something like what happened to a woman lawyer I know at a large international firm.

Think of the women lawyers who get involved with their clients.

She graduated first in her law school class, at a time when there were very few women lawyers.

He would often leave the bench when a woman lawyer rose to present a case.

Since then, she has worked very hard to help make things better for women lawyers.

"I met women lawyers in women's issues and that gave me a sense of confidence," she said.

"People were not used to going to a woman lawyer," she recalled.

But most women lawyers expect it will take many years before their corporate counterparts control much business.

The woman lawyer looked away and squeezed past us into the elevator.

The second series really went off the boil because there was much more emphasis on the woman lawyer.