The Trailblazers of the 1970s

Elinore Richardson

I believe that there are many women like me all over Canada in the legal profession. We have all had our successes and our failures. Most of us have not been in the limelight. We have chosen to slog it out serving in community charities, taking our kids to school, and keeping our heads down at the office so as to survive and in some cases actually prosper. We have not done it perfectly. But we are each of us unique in that all of us together have changed the Canadian legal landscape. We have changed perceptions of women through daily one-on-one contact with colleagues and clients - not by talking the talk, but by walking the walk.

Christine Kates

With regard to practice, in 1979, I created a new niche in the legal profession. I began a career as a legal oral historian with now over twenty-five years experience (...) Articling positions were difficult to find (...) finding a junior position after articling and Bar Admission was even more difficult. Even though my best marks and interest would have been tax, there were no jobs for women in this area - it was estates, family or real estate. I became a "Bay Street Lawyer" with Blaney, Pasternak, as only the second women in the firm.

Hon. Ruth Mesbur

As one of the few women who went into litigation, there were no role models, so I had to create my own style. A benefit was that with so few women litigators, one stood out, and was remembered. It became an advantage in a sense.

Ella M. (Yeti) Agnew

Looking back, I can see that I made a number of decisions to make my life easier as a woman in law at that time. I consciously dropped my voice because a high-pitched voice is not heard in a boardroom. I walked with very little hip rotation - like a man.

Hon. Kathryn Feldman

I was privileged to be part of a group of 20 extraordinary women entering U of T Law School in 1970.We were all high achievers in our scholastic careers to date and frankly did not fully appreciate the challenges that we would face as women in the legal profession. (...) However, my colleagues not only faced the challenges, they excelled in the profession. (...) I think the women in our class can take great pride in the contributions we have made to the profession as lawyers and as women.

Janet Minor

After articling we were hired, often as the first women in the firms' litigation groups. At the same time we were often told that while the firm had complete confidence in women, they were not sure how their clients would react. The thrill of being hired was accompanied by uncertainty - would women be given the same kind of work, would we have the same earnings, would we advance, and would more women be hired? The answer to all these questions was frequently no. (...) We have seen great changes in our profession, most importantly greater representation of women in all areas of practice and at all levels of the judiciary.Women litigators are no longer curiosities. There are still vexing problems for women, especially in the areas of advancement, compensation and retention in the profession.

Lynda Tanaka

I articled and practiced law for over 30 years at WeirFoulds LLP. I was the first woman hired there as a lawyer and in 1980, the first woman partner. I was the first woman partner in the firm to take maternity leave. My being "different" in the social and business context was a factor in my daily life. Sometimes, I was conscious of it and sometimes, not. (...) It would be misleading to suggest that the support I received, inside the firm and outside, allowed me to feel fully integrated into the male culture of the profession. But as long as those I worked with fairly assessed my contribution to the firm and associations, I decided that I was getting what I wanted to get out of my job.

Christine Riddolls Anderson

Despite a love of law, and relatively good marks, I (and other women in the class) had no articling position until then-Professor Frank Iacobucci strong-armed the downtown law firms on behalf of the women students. The formal dinners involved with the articling position required the use of side doors and accompaniment into the then 'men-only' clubs. Joining Campeau Corporation as a functionally bilingual lawyer in Ottawa after the Bar Ads, I was known by Robert Campeau as "That Woman". my bosses quickly realized my attention to detail and the bigger picture, and my ability to organize information made me a valuable partner. I moved from the background into the meeting rooms, taking more responsibilities and directing outside counsel. However, it would be a total of 18 years before the VP title was issued to match the increased responsibility.

 

Priscilla Healy

When I started to practice law the older male lawyers called me "dear." (...) I was occasionally asked to type if I was around the office after 5. (...) Sometimes I was expected to get coffee. (...) I was one of the first, if not the first, lawyer in Toronto to go on paid maternity leave (I expected to be fired when I announced my pregnancy) (...). I have had no fewer than six careers/jobs as a lawyer, in private practice, in government and with an actuarial consulting firm. I have loved them all. I have broken some glass ceilings. The wheel turns and spirals. Now, nobody calls me "dear" (professionally anyway). But we all do our own typing on computers. We get our own coffee, as the politically correct thing to do. Many if not most women are still prejudiced by child-rearing, because it does change your priorities. The glass ceilings are still there but getting higher.

Margaret Dawn McConnell

My career since graduating from U of T Law School in 1974 has spanned several venues, including small and large law firms and a sole practice. My introduction to a downtown law firm while articling at Cassels, Brock was an enriching experience. The firm at that time had only one female lawyer, a young associate. I was well received and was provided, along with the other articling students (all male), with good mentorship from senior and junior counsel.

Rebecca Hunter

 In the spring of 1977, I began searching for gainful employment as a lawyer. At some law firms I encountered questions such as, "Do you intend to practice law or to have a family?" In the fall of 1977, I joined the Vancouver Regional Office of the Department of Justice, which did not ask such questions. There were not many female lawyers there at the time.

Priscilla Platt

I graduated in 1975 and my first job was as one of the first 'permanent' Duty Counsel in Old City Hall. I wanted to do criminal law and this provided an excellent opportunity to learn. After about a year I joined the defence Bar and practised for about eight years. At that point I became interested in youth justice issues and wrote a number of books, including a legal text, on the subject. I joined the Crown Attorney's office in Toronto to prosecute young offender matters in the central youth court on Jarvis Street. The privacy provisions of the legislation were quite interesting and progressive and when an opportunity came to work on the province's new Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, I accepted.

Louise Barrington

A Masters programme in International Commercial Law introduced me to civil law, to the European Union, to Cartesian logic, to illegible French handwriting, and to the world of international arbitration. Ah, it was love at first sight! The meeting of languages, cultures and legal traditions was fascinating. In that Eureka! moment, I'd found my métier. All that remained was to break into this exciting but exceedingly rarified community. It proved however, no easy matter for a foreigner, and a woman, to find a niche in that most male and hierarchical structure. (...) A tiny group of women at my first international conference in Bahrain mumbled about the dearth of our fairer sex; my curiosity eventually produced the article that made me infamous: "Arbitral Women: A Study of Women in International Arbitration." That in turn led to the formation of "Arbitralwomen", a Paris-based, non-profit association to promote and foster the role of women in international arbitration.

Dianne Cladwell

After eight years doing child protection work, I moved to the Office of the Children's Lawyer (formerly Official Guardian) to represent children from a different perspective. It has been my privilege to represent children in various types of court proceedings, including child protection, custody and access disputes, personal injury cases and estate litigation. For the past 13 years, I have also been a Legal Director at the Children's Lawyer's office. It has been an amazing and fulfilling combination to represent kids and be a litigator. I am pleased to report that I have had no further challenges to my ability to succeed in court as a "woman lawyer."

Hon. Margaret Eberhard

My youngest child was in grade two when I was appointed to the bench. In that wonderful honour, I have been proudest that I entered the judiciary a wife and mother of young children. There were women in the court, but so few mothers. The challenges of balancing family and professional life had too long silenced voices that needed to be heard, that had something to add, that represented a significant wisdom in our society. There were so few who had been given the opportunity and now, happily, there are many.

I hope, for the young women earning their spots in law school, that the profession has looked to the women who first graduated in large numbers in the 70s and thereby become increasingly confident that support for lawyers during their child-bearing years is a wise and worthwhile investment in the future of their organization and the profession.

Shanon Grauer

I left law school and joined a downtown law firm (now McCarthy Tétrault) where I have been ever since. I still remember the early years and being the first woman lawyer hired into the Corporate Commercial Section in several years. There were only two other women in the Corporate Commercial group and they were seven or more years my senior. (...) Also in the early years, the few women that were at the firm banded together and had the occasional dinner at one or other of our homes to talk about a variety of things including life at the firm. It too was a supportive network and much valued.

Barbara Jackman

I had high expectations of being able to achieve justice through the courts. I did not believe that being female would or should matter. However I learned quite quickly that achieving 'justice' was a slow process, with as many set backs as advances, and that being a woman did matter - at times. Early on my primary problem was getting the Court to recognize that I was a lawyer and not an accused or my client's daughter (this one went away as I aged). Always there was a worry, when I perceived differential treatment from a judge, as to the cause - was it because I was a woman, or because I was perceived as a 'radical', or just because the judge didn't like me or the arguments I was advancing.

Elizabeth McIntyre

A fortuitous summer job, which connected me to the nurses' union, led to a longstanding professional relationship and gave me the opportunity to apply my skills in a focused way to help a group of predominantly female health professionals. I was then fortunate to meet two motivated activist women. Together we overcame obstacles, such as getting a bank loan, to form Symes, Kitely & McIntyre, one of the first all-women law firms on Bay Street. Also together, we worked on challenging and rewarding cases such as the representation of nurses at the Grange Inquiry into a series of deaths at The Hospital for Sick Children.

Katharine Rounthwaite

I did not find being a woman a barrier in my career. Early on, I was treated as a curiosity at work by the occasional person; some reactions were very funny.  It was important to approach many situations with humour and an understanding that working with a professional woman was new to these men. They just had to be taught that they could do it and that it wouldn't hurt. One had to be professional but demonstrate a sense of humour (occasionally bawdy), and also a willingness to speak bluntly and, as needed, use the odd 'bad word'.

Hon. Elizabeth Stewart

 Somehow, in between going to classes and to parties and writing exams and drinking draft beer at the Embassy Tavern and forging friendships at the law school that would last a lifetime, we were turned into trailblazers. (...) Upon reflection, I feel very lucky and proud to have been, and to still be, in a very small way part of this revolution.In September 1973, of the 150 or so members of the first-year class at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, over 20% were women. I was one of those women. Although most of us were only peaceful and placid reformers, our mere presence at the law school in such numbers was revolutionary. 

Hon. Bonnie Croll

When I was pregnant again in 1985, I proposed to the firm that I work part-time, with the necessary adjustment in remuneration. After some initial controversy and turmoil, my firm agreed to a part-time proposal. It did not come without a price, however, as I was required to resign from the partnership. I did so quite willingly - the prospect of spending more time with my children was quite appealing - but the consequences of resigning affected more than my compensation. (...) I am cautiously optimistic that a part-time proposal would be less controversial today, and that it would not require a female partner to relinquish all the privileges that she had earned.

Hon. Gloria Epstein

The challenges my personal life as a wife and mother have brought to bear on my career as a litigation lawyer in two large law firms, an owner of my own boutique firm, and then a judge, have been profound. However, the growth that has come from meeting those challenges, in my roles as wife, mother, sister, daughter and woman (in what was, in the late '70s, a "man's world") is not the story but has fed into it. I see my story as being one of being a person who has had the good fortune to have lived a full life enhanced by a myriad of spectacular people. 

Linda Gehrke

When the Charter of Rights and Freedoms first came into effect, I was privileged to be part of group of young women lawyers, led by Professor Mossman, who conducted a Charter audit of Ontario legislation.To embark on a gender analysis of one's career is not an easy task. Would I have followed a different path if there had been less discrimination against women in the legal profession when I attended law school? Would I have followed a different path if more opportunities had been open to me when I graduated from law school? Would I have been more successful in the legal profession? I can only guess at the answers to these questions.

Maureen Simpson

I had wonderful mentors who were learned in the law and willing to share their experiences and values with me. Though I was hesitant about appearing in court, I took to the experience with alacrity. Luckily, at the time the small claims court limit in the north was $1,000 as compared with $400 in the south, so I spent my time handling matters on my own, not just carrying bags, researching and filing documents. I won my first trial - a motor vehicle liability case. My opponent was a male lawyer, with several years experience. At the Christmas law dinner, he was overheard in the men's washroom complaining to his colleagues that he could beat me ... if only I was in there.

Susan Grundy

When I started practice, I found that while having women lawyers providing legal services was still somewhat of a new experience for some of the lawyers and clients I worked with, we were treated professionally and I did not feel limited in the opportunities I had. Again, I benefited from the women who had started practicing before I did, and from the fact that by the time I started practice women were entering all areas of the working world in large numbers.By the time I started law school, the number of women students had been increasing for several years, and my class was about 1/3 women. We weren't trailblazers to the same extent as the women who had come through the law school earlier. My classmates and I regarded ourselves as equal to men in every respect, and expected to be treated that way in the law school and in our careers. If someone had asked us whether we needed role models or mentors, we would have said we didn't need them.

Sherry Martin

At the end of a day in an appellate court, the woman who was the registrar commented, "It was an all-girl day today," and I realized she was right. Everyone in the room had been a woman, from judge to counsel and bailiffs. I feel things have changed, and surely accommodation of many women's reality of children and work cannot be that far off.

Lisa M. Weinstein 

I was lucky. I had sent resumes to a number of different law firms when I got a characteristically brief letter from Albert Strauss, Q.C. It said:"Re: Position. Call me for an appointment." I met with him twice, the second time with his partners, Irwin Cooper and Sidney Troister, and I got the job.When I graduated from U of T Law School in 1978, a lot of my classmates were women. As far as I know, none of them had any trouble getting an articling position, or a job after they were called to the Bar. We knew there were barriers, but we kept our cool and applied with the rest. If we weren't satisfied, we changed jobs until we were. Looking back, we were a pretty determined bunch.

Dr. Margaret - Ann Wilkinson

Although I had no intentions in this direction at the time of leaving U of T Law, I have become a legal academic! One encounter that attracted me to law school in the first place was a dinner speech given by Madame Justice Van Camp, the first woman on Ontario's superior court bench, given at the University Women's Club in Toronto. After practicing law for a few years, focusing on appellate and administrative litigation but also experiencing general practice, I returned to the University of Toronto to complete my BA (Trinity) and then my Masters of Library Science (in information science). This was part of my interest in studying the effects of computerization on the practice of law and the administration of justice. Ironically, at the time, there was no interest amongst legal academics in working with graduate students looking at this type of issue. While I was in practice, I had the experience of gowning in a "room" that was created by organizing banks of lockers (open to the ceiling) to create a "room" out of a corner of the men barristers' gowning room.

Caron Wishart

When I entered law school, it was a great adventure - an opportunity to start a second career.  I taught high school English and loved it, but I wondered how many more times I could teach Lord of the Fliesand still enjoy it.  These were the 70s and women in law were still trailblazers. The principal of the high school where I was teaching reflected that reality: "What do you think you're doing? It's a man's world."

My experience since then has put the lie to those words.  Over the close to 25 years I've been in practice, there have been only one or two incidents which I found embarrassing or difficult at the time.  One client wanted a male lawyer from the firm - someone who was strong.  Another client asked me to fetch a coffee.  These incidents are insignificant now and were not that difficult to manage at the time.  Perhaps I was just lucky.  Clients and fellow lawyers, then and now know when you are prepared, when you have worked hard, and when you act professionally.  The best lawyers always respond with courtesy when asked for professional guidance. 

Patricia Conway

I became a partner in 1985, and became the first woman partner at the firm to have a baby in 1986. There was no maternity leave policy in place, and I was worried enough about my new status to take only two months off. It thereafter almost became a tradition that any woman who made partner became pregnant within the first year or two. I am proud to say that the firm developed a forward-looking policy, and all but one of the female partners remained in private practice with the firm after having a family.

Anne Corbett

Looking back on 25 years in practice, I am proud to be at the same firm with which I started. Three women joined the firm at the same time I did, to bring the total to five out of about 80 lawyers. I am proud to say we are all still at the firm and did we break new ground! We are a group that includes the first woman partner, the first maternity leave and the first woman elected to the management committee. I think it is a great career for a woman and that is what I have been telling my daughter for years!

Anita Lerek

When I entered the University of Toronto Law School, I had already been through several career worlds: community college teacher, literary agent, and sociology graduate student. And before that, in undergrad at McGill, I'd been a student activist in the tradition of the late 60s. I had worked in several factories to bring together a student-worker alliance.

So arriving at U of T Law School after all these experiences, I found things a bit tame and ivory towerish. I do recall being told that our class was exceptional, with more women and more mature students - I guess just like me.

(...) I have always been an advocate of fairness in all realms including in the workplace. I feel that there are many serious workplace challenges in the legal profession, the most serious being ageism, excessive reliance on marks as a hiring tool, and the depletion of human resources in the workplace.