Member Articles

CBA Members

The Common Room

Women Lawyers Forum

Members interested in posting articles are encouraged to send them by email to cbawomenlawyers@cba.org.

Today
Today

One size does not fit all: Court gowning directives across Canada

  • April 10, 2019
  • Carly Romanov

Robes have been ubiquitous with lawyers dating back to the Middle Ages and have been viewed as a grand tradition of the legal profession. Robes can be controversial at times, with some questioning their relevance in the 21st century legal profession.

Women Lawyers

ABA meetings - a valuable journey

  • April 05, 2019
  • Kathryn Sainty, Q.C.

For the past several years, the Women Lawyers Forum has been fortunate to send a representative to two meetings of the ABA – the midyear meeting and the annual meeting. This year the midyear meeting took place in Las Vegas in January.

Women Lawyers

Own your inner RBG

  • March 13, 2019
  • Jennifer Taylor

NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Lawyer’s Daily website published by LexisNexis Canada Inc. on January 29, 2019, with the title “What we can learn from On the Basis of Sex”

Women Lawyers

CBA-NT – Women Lawyers gone wild

  • January 16, 2019
  • Karin Taylor

Eleven women lawyers dropped in the middle of the remote northern wilderness. It sounds like it could be a terrible movie plot. But in fact, it was the setting for the CBA-NT Inaugural Women Lawyer’s Forum Retreat. We had left our usual responsibilities behind, and committed to a weekend of connection, discussion, learning, and lots of laughs too.

Women Lawyers

Creating a values-based law firm

  • December 05, 2018
  • Gabrielle Battiste

Values are the building blocks of society and should form the foundation for every action of every individual and organization. Do you know your values as a firm? Have you defined them so that all staff knows what they mean to the firm and how to represent the firm using those values? Are your policies and practices reflective of those values?

Women Lawyers

But I was wearing a suit…

  • September 10, 2018
  • Melissa D. Atkinson

Last December I read a CBC article about Indigenous lawyers speaking out about bias and racism. The Law Society of B.C. and the Continuing Legal Education Society of B.C. featured an on-line video project called: “I Was Wearing a Suit.” The CBC article focused on Indigenous lawyer’s perspective within the profession and more importantly, opened a conversation about how Indigenous people are treated in our legal system.

Women Lawyers

Camp reinstatement challenges belief in redemption narratives

  • June 15, 2018
  • Diane Baker Mason

Former judge Robin Camp has been reinstated as a lawyer after receiving instruction on sexist attitudes. And if he’s not reformed then he’ll be just another sexist male lawyer, writes Diane Baker Mason.

Women Lawyers