Bar members Jill Comerton and Marie-Claire McDermott organised the event, which covered issues including thinking on your feet, dealing with difficult questions, and making persuasive arguments.

Speaking to Irish Legal News, Ms Commerton said: “We had a very successful event which was well attended by women from a wide variety of businesses, both private and public, small and large.

“We received a very positive response from the attendees to say this was exactly the type of event they needed to attend and that often they did not receive training on how to make a business pitch.

“We gave them some insight into the legal arena where we work and the Art of Persuasion in Advocacy, drawing on our experience and knowledge as barristers to give them practical and useful advice on how to be pitch perfect in the Art of Persuasion.

“We hope that it is the first of many more events organised jointly by the Bar Council of NI and Women in Business.”

Ms McDermott said: “This was the first of what we hope will be many events in which the Bar Council of Northern Ireland has worked in partnership with the Women in Business organisation.

“We were particularly proud to welcome them into the courtroom of the beautiful Royal Courts of Justice. When the building was opened in 1933, the programme of the event did not feature a single woman. Things have thankfully moved on and there is increasingly greater equality in numbers of women at the Bar and the appointment in 2016 of Mrs Justice Keegan and Madam Justice McBride to the High Court Bench has started to address the issue of female representation in the judiciary, though more work still needs to be done.”

She added: “Women at the Bar are Women in Business. At the Bar we perhaps don’t really appreciate the skillset we have and how it is transferrable to many lines of business.

“For all women in business, whether it be the electrician to the IT consultant to the retailer, it is really important for them to put their best foot forward and present themselves well. I spoke to many of the attendees last night and they all mentioned how they thought that going into court was all about who could shout the loudest. We hope that we conveyed the message that there is much more to persuading a judge than simply being heard. There is an art in being persuasive.

“We hoped that last night was an encouraging and positive evening in helping Women in Business to promote and empower themselves, and we look forward to welcoming them in the future.”