With 38 different practice areas and special interests to choose from, as an OBA member you have the opportunity to join an exclusive network of peers whose experiences and passions align with your own. In addition to providing access to award-winning programming, peer-reviewed articles and practice resources, OBA Sections have facilitated new business opportunities, career development and life-long friendships for thousands of lawyers across Ontario.

Summer is over and busy season is upon us – consider giving your career a boost by joining an OBA Section before the Oct. 31 deadline.

It was 2004. I was a new Call to the Bar and was just starting to come to grips with what it really meant to be a practising lawyer. My colleagues were supporting me brilliantly within the workplace. Outside of that, however, I had not engaged with the wider profession and knew very little about its makeup. I was encouraged by my mentor to join an OBA Section. That was twelve years ago this past July.

It was one of the wisest decisions I have ever made. Membership has provided me with remarkable professional and career developmental opportunities that have enabled me to learn key and subtle values not easily communicated within the workplace.

The people I’ve met have become some of my closest professional contacts, giving me a valuable network of friends, inspirations, and mentors.

- Elizabeth Mourao, Ricketts, Harris LLP

I initially joined the Business Law Section Executive when I was hired as a junior lawyer. As a foreign trained lawyer with little Canadian law experience, I hoped that the Section Executive would help expand my knowledge base, give me advance insight into legal developments of relevance, and provide me with an opportunity to learn from the leading minds in the province in these areas of law. I was not disappointed – the Section Executive provided all of those things and more, including mentorship, which has been invaluable to me during my career.

- Nadia Somani, McLean & Kerr

The OBA has been an incredible asset in my development as a lawyer and in my practice. As a member of the Young Lawyers Division CPD Committee, I learned critical skills about the practice of law. Directly as a result of my involvement with that Section committee, I secured a job with one of the largest full service firms in the country. When I started my own practice, that same firm provided me with my first referral.

    - Paul Lomic, Lomic Law

Visit one of the OBA’s 40 practice Section pages to see what they have to offer. Joining is easy and can be done online or by phoning 1-800-668-8900.