Articles 2020

Last week, I topped my list of nerve-wracking, new-lawyer moments when, heart pounding, I telephoned the Honourable Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1987 to 2002 and the second woman in Canadian history to be appointed to that position. I was calling to see if Justice L’Heureux-Dubé would speak with me about her experience receiving the OBA's Women Lawyers Forum's Award of Excellence in 1996, its inaugural year.

A compilation of links to articles, podcasts, and videos that may be of interest to members of the OBA Women Lawyers Forum. Have suggested content for this feature? Email the link to Justine Johnston at justine.johnston@blakes.com.

A compilation of links to articles, podcasts, and videos that may be of interest to members of the OBA Women Lawyers Forum. Have suggested content for this feature? Email the link to Justine Johnston at justine.johnston@blakes.com.

OBA Women Lawyers Forum member Daniella Murynka's op-ed on how prejudice played a part in the US presidential election.

A quarterly summary of awards and appointments, legislation and cases, and upcoming events. Please send any of the above that you would like announced, to Justine Johnston at justine.johnston@blakes.com

By midnight, it was apparent that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would not be making history. As I wondered what went wrong, I was reminded of Margaret Atwood’s remarks at LEAF's Annual Persons Day Breakfast Gala. Atwood opined that the U.S. had not seen misogyny like that on display during the 2016 election campaign since the Salem witch trials and observed that women’s rights are shallowly entrenched in our culture, and thus susceptible to restriction or even revocation.

A compilation of links to articles, podcasts, and videos that may be of interest to members of the OBA Women Lawyers Forum. Have suggested content for this feature? Email the link to Justine Johnston at justine.johnston@blakes.com.

I met my husband in a modern-day fairy tale setting: on a Facebook thread discussing Canadian immigration. While he wooed me, I was figuring out how to get licensed to practice law in Canada. And now, whenever a foreign-qualified lawyer tells me that they are ready to give up on the accreditation process, I take a deep breath and say, “Let me tell you about my journey as a foreign qualified lawyer…”

Welcome and thank you for staying current with the Women Lawyers Forum. The Women Lawyers Forum's newsletter contains articles on topics important to women lawyers, including a recent article on sexist language in the profession (That’s Not My Name - Advice for Responding to Sexist Language in the Practice of Law). Our goal is to engage women and facilitate discussions about the benefits and challenges of being a female lawyer.

“Because it’s 2015.” It has been almost one year since PM Justin Trudeau’s simple explanation for gender parity in his first Cabinet. This decision was hailed as an important and long-overdue step towards substantive gender equality, but we are hardly living in a post-gender world - in politics or in law.