Advocacy as a Women’s Рrofession in Рre-revolutionary Russia

In the late tsarist era, women began to enter traditionally male-dominated professions. The legal profession was appealing to them, and some Russian women sought to join its ranks. Some of them were successful in participating in trials as lawyers. This work is the first in historiography to focus on such cases. The use of micro-historical detail, a gender-based analysis of the change in the social role of women, and materials from periodicals, archival documentation, and memoirs make it possible to explore the issue of women’s ability to practice law and the changes in the legal profession itself that could follow. Since the 1870s, Russian women have been a notable presence in the legal profession and were very active in Siberia and Finland, where there were special judicial procedures at the time. However, in places where the Judicial Regulations of 1864 were in force, an obstacle for them was the requirement for attorneys to have a diploma of higher legal education. At the beginning of the twentieth century, women were allowed to graduate from university law faculties, which gave them a right to apply for legal professions. Several Russian women took part in court hearings as attorneys. However, such actions were suppressed by the authorities, and the official employment of certified lawyers in the legal profession was made impossible. Nevertheless, they often found employment in positions that allowed them to implement their acquired knowledge providing legal assistance to the population. The work of women lawyers, like that of other Russian women in the service of the law, returned certain results and received mostly positive assessments from male lawyers, politicians, and members of the public. The feminisation of the legal profession was starting, and the gender factor was given special attention to in court hearings with the participation of women attorneys. Adapting to the profession, Russian women imitated men. In their behaviour and manners, it was already difficult to discern the virtues that were traditionally attributed to females. They came to court to defend someone’s interests prepared, having mastered the skills of a lawyer, and won cases, and their legal activities were generally recognised as successful and worthy of the trust of their clientele.