Page 18 - CCCA Magazine Winter 2014

{ diversity } Women In laW are We there yet? By Cathy Cummings at the CBa legal Conference in august, the CBa Women lawyers approximately 27% of the practising bar. The general trend was that women were Forum (WlF) highlighted the report, Touchstones for Change 21 somewhat underrepresented in private Years Later, framed through the lens of today’s relevance. practice and somewhat overrepresented in government jobs. Women lawyers were also generally overrepresented in corpo- he session presenters spanned the pro- and lesbian law students and lawyers, and rate counsel positions—though this trend fession, including Robert Brun, QC, those with disabilities. The resulting 290- was not consistent across Canada and was tpartner with Harris & Brun in Van- page report included a signifcant number not refected in the role of GC. Women couver; Justice Corrine Sparks, family court of conclusions and recommendations. were also underrepresented in the judicia- judge in Halifax; Sara Gottlieb, member ry: only about 12% of federally appointed of the WLF and lawyer with the Ontario gender discrimination exists in the legal judges were women. Ombudsman; CCCA Chair Heather Innes, profession Where are we today? Currently, wom- Counsel, Global Process Leader, Interna- The report set out evidence of unequal en lawyers comprise about 37% of the tional Trade Law and CPO with General treatment between the sexes at many lev- practising bar, but only about 20% of Motors of Canada Ltd. in Oshawa; Beth els of the legal profession across Canada. partners in frms. Percentages in govern- McGrath, counsel with McInnes Cooper in It identifed barriers to equality, including ment remain higher, often more than St. John’s; and Naiomi Metallic, associate the many forms these barriers can take in 50%, and women in corporate counsel with Burchells LLP in Halifax. terms of initial employment and career positions, including senior roles, are Moderator Sandra Appel of Davis LLP advancement. It stated that the recogni- higher across the country than two de- summarized the original report, Touch- tion of discrimination is the frst step. cades ago. However, the statistics for stones for Change: Equality, Diversity and When she read this in 1993, Appel said, our judges are not as impressive. As of Accountability, released in 1993. It was “I was a partner in a mid-size frm in To- November 2014, only 381 of the 1,110 commissioned by the CBA in 1991 and ronto, and although I was aware of the re- federally appointed judges were women. involved two years of research and broad port and of discrimination in the practice, The statistics are around 34%—better consultation to ascertain and address the I thought that it did not apply to me. And than before but not yet representative of status of women in the legal profession. if it did, I could just work harder to make the population. Working groups were established in every it go away. However, I was certainly aware province and territory, and the task force of our challenges and that very few of my and in the corporate sphere held public hearings, consulted with dif- law school colleagues were still practicing What is happening with regard to cor- ferent organizations and commissioned law in frms.” porate counsel? The CCCA’s statistics on scholarly papers on topics such as sex When Justice Sparks was called on to regular members consistently show the discrimination in employment and law refect on the task force’s work, she asked in-house counsel profession as split down frm structures. The task force also com- the audience to consider whether we have the middle when it comes to gender: 50% missioned national surveys on groups for met all the hallmarks in the report, “do we women and 50% men. However, we know which no data existed, such as female judg- live in a world where women and diverse from the work done for the 2013 book, es, federal government lawyers, adjudica- candidates can thrive?” Breaking Through: Tales from the Top tors and law professors. They also under- What do the numbers tell us? In Can- Canadian Women General Counsel, that took a survey of female black, aboriginal ada in 1993, women lawyers comprised while there are more women in the role 18 CCCa Magazine | Winter 2014 Hiver