Legally Blonde at 25: Lawyers inspired by Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods

According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, in 2001, the year Legally Blonde was released, 43% of solicitors in England and Wales were women. As of last year, women made up 63% of solicitors the Law Society found.

However, Deputy Vice President of the society Dana Denis-Smith, said many women still feel like they do not belong.

“My whole legal career tracks Legally Blonde because I started my legal education 25 years ago, about three months after it came out,” the 51-year-old from Transylvania said.

“Previous to this film, a lot of the women in law portrayed in film were very hard women. They had to play hardball.”

Dana said women have only been able practice law since around 1922. And when the first generation entered the profession they faced ridicule and questions around what they would wear and how they would behave, as well as discrimination around the types of work they could do.

“It was about what was considered suitable for a woman,” she said.

“Legally Blonde broke with that tradition of ‘you can’t be feminine and successful’. I think it was a very pivotal moment for women.

“Before you would hide away your children and not talk about your family life. There was a sense that you had to really separate your professional identity,” she added.