SUSAN RODWAY QC is an exemplary Super-A: 65 years young, a fit and healthy divorcee, mother to four adult children – yet looks forty-something.
We want to honour her as a Super-A because she knows what it takes to be a woman at the top of her game in a male-dominated profession. The head of the UN’s agency for gender equality said. “The global #MeToo campaign has taken the battle for women’s rights to where we have never been before.” Within the world of the judiciary system, there is still a lot of work to be done; where success is an uphill battle for women. Susan Rodway dared to be free of the barriers that threatened to hold her back and has succeeded against the odds.
She is described by her Chambers and partners as “outstanding and not to be messed with.” Her advice is straight to the point, and she doesn’t take prisoners.
She has recently been instructed to act for a large number of professional rugby union players in their actions against World Rugby arising out of permanent brain damage due to concussions and sub-concussive injuries suffered during their professional careers. The claim is brought in negligence and is based upon allegations of failings in the introduction and implementation of rules and regulations to identify, reduce or prevent damage due to repetitive head injuries in match play and training sessions. World rugby will face the possibility of huge claims for every player diagnosed with early-onset dementia and other neuro-degenerative diseases that will form part of a legal action that could extend to more than a hundred ex-professionals. According to the NHS, concussion is “a temporary injury to the brain caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head. It usually only lasts up to a few days or weeks, although it sometimes needs emergency treatment and some people can have longer-lasting problems.”
But what really sets Susan Rodway apart is her humility and how she is never afraid to speak from the heart. In a recent Facebook post, she wrote:
“So… as 2020 draws to a close, this is a message to my friends. I only have friends on FB… this is a personal space and not a platform. I am truly concerned about the mental health implications of this lockdown. Here is an abbreviated journey of my year: Jan: elated! 2020 was going to be the best year. Feb: clouds on the horizon… what was this new contagion? March: lockdown. The upside: I collected my mother from the hospital that day, and took her to her home where I stayed with her until she died… so lucky and such precious time. April: crazy mother (where do I get it from) hatches plan to buy a puppy. May: said puppy arrives and gives her so much happiness. June: I sell my house / move out and into a new home. July: my mother dies. August: emptiness… funeral… empty nest. September: Back to the new house with puppy and Harley… many boxes. October: Mal returns for 3 weeks: ends his 7-year relationship with me. Unfollows me on Facebook. Harley insists on staying with me xxx November: …let’s not talk about November. December: things turn around. I decide to be positive. Happiness returns… even in Tier 4 and ruined Christmas, I notice the little things. More birds, less noise. Jan 2021??… elated! 2021 is going to be the best year !!”
“To everyone struggling… personally, in work, in relationships, with mental health, with addictions… we are ALL the same. We are all cut down to size no matter our privileges… What keeps us constant is our extraordinary tenacity and our ability to care for each other and to keep on trudging toward… and believing in… the precious light xx.”
This is why we at Super-A honour Susan Rodway QC – a woman who’s been there, done it, and lives happily to tell the tale.
