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The Gender Divide In Corporate Law Fact or Fiction? By Dayna Steinfeld Today, more than half of law school graduates are women, yet Law Society statistics, media reports, and even just a quick perusal of firm websites, tell us that far less than half the lawyers in the corporate/ commercial law field are women, particularly in the senior ranks. At the same time, women are increasingly occupying high-ranking corporate positions outside of law firms, working as in-house lawyers, running non-profit organizations, and holding senior government jobs. With this in mind, is the gender divide in corporate law fact or fiction? 91 ROBSON HALL ALUMNI REPORT
In January, two student groups, the Feminist Legal Forum (FLF) and the Business Law Group (BLG), set about to answer this very question. The FLF is a student-run group concerned with the relationship between equality and law, with a focus on equality in the practice and application of law. The BLG aims to bring Robson Hall students interested in commercial and corporate law into contact with practitioners in the legal community. The FLF and BLG joined forces to take on the important subject of women in corporate law, and the idea for the “Women in Corporate Law: Is the Gender Divide Fact or Fiction?” panel discussion was born. The response from the legal community was tremendous, and the FLF and BLG effortlessly recruited as our panelists four stars in Manitoba’s corporate/commercial field: Eleanor Wiebe, Q.C., Margaret Redmond, Linda Vincent, and Mary McGunigal. * The discussion took place before a full room of law students and faculty members on January 26 at Robson Hall. Professor John Pozios, Director of the Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise, moderated the discussion, which centered on the experiences of the four panelists. Each provided a description of her career path and her perspectives on what role, if any, gender has played in her career. The panelists disputed the existence of a gender divide. While most panelists acknowledged that, at different stages of their careers, they and their female colleagues were vastly outnumbered by male co-workers, all of the panelists agreed that gender had not influenced their career to a large degree. All of the panelists held the view that it is the quality of work that matters, and they felt they were not treated differently from their male colleagues. They acknowledged that there are challenges associated with combining work and motherhood, but agreed that it is usually possible to work with firms and employers to achieve a degree of flexibility, while pointing out that no lawyers will be paid for time that goes unworked. The panelists offered a number of practical suggestions for handling situations in which parenting responsibilities conflict with responsibilities at work. They highlighted the importance of negotiating for yourself, along with the advice that you never know what an employer will be willing to do for you if you don’t ask. The consensus was that support might be there, even when you don’t expect it, but if nothing is ventured, nothing is gained. The panelists agreed that the new generation of law graduates is creating change in the work culture of the legal profession, demanding more realistic work expectations and insisting that they be able to achieve a work-life balance. This has resulted in the profession’s adjusting its values and structure, benefitting both male and female lawyers. Finally, the panelists encouraged us to consider the spectrum of legal careers and to understand that legal practice does not begin and end with private firms. They emphasized that we can choose our own careers and that there is a range of exciting work in nontraditional fields beyond the corner of Portage and Main. The audience enlivened the discussion with a number of questions. The new generation of law students, heralded for creating change in the value placed on work-life balance in the profession, questioned the idea that the gender divide was merely about an inequality of numbers. In particular, a new and perhaps unanticipated divide emerged – a generational divide. * Eleanor Wiebe is a partner with Fillmore Riley LLP and has practiced commercial law for over 25 years. She was the second woman in Fillmore’s history to become a Fillmore partner. Margaret Redmond is currently the President and CEO of the Assiniboine Park Conservancy. Ms Redmond served as a Chief Strategic Officer at the Canadian Wheat Board as well as Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary over an eleven-year period. Linda Vincent is the Vice President of ICE Futures Canada Inc, which is dedicated to providing a public marketplace for responsive price discovery and risk transfer of commodities with efficiency and integrity. She articled and practiced with TDS for six years before joining the Manitoba Securities Commission in 1992 as Assistant Counsel. Ms Vincent joined the Winnipeg Commodities Exchange (now ICE Futures) in 1998. Mary McGunigal has been a Crown Counsel with Civil Legal Services of Manitoba Justice since 1999. Before joining the Manitoba government, she was associated with the firm of D’Arcy and Deacon LLP.
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2012 A l u m n i RepoRt robson hall
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CONTENTS 27. 17. PROFILES 17. Abori
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INTRODUCTION continued... research
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BRIEFS An Evening of Excellence 201
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BRIEFS The Idea of a Human Rights M
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BRIEFS DISTINGUISHED VISITOR LECTUR
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Photo courtesy of Joe Byyksa Winnip
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Photo courtesy Joe Bryksa, Winnipeg
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A seminAr series held At the Univer
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law students who face challenges as
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BRIEFS Rebels with a Cause LAW STUD
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BRIEFS REBELS WITH A CAUSE continue
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AWARDS AND PRIZES LIEUTENANT M.M. S
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BRIEFS D.A. THOMPSON, Q.C. PRIZE Bu
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Front-Line Legal Magdalena Siepka -
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“There is often simply no time to
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New York New York Mark Adkins - Cla
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“My prior firm merged with a New
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37 ROBSON HALL ALUMNI REPORT
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education I got at the Manitoba Law
Page 42 and 43: International Law a Passport to the
Page 44 and 45: FEATURE Fenwick was given an opport
Page 46 and 47: permanent international criminal co
Page 48 and 49: BRIEFS Cheers to the Charter! ROBSO
Page 50 and 51: BRIEFS Mishpatim Program A Life Cha
Page 52 and 53: Pro Bono Students Open New Campus L
Page 54 and 55: RURAL ROUTES U of M lawyers extol c
Page 56 and 57: FEATURE Recalling his own experienc
Page 58 and 59: Raising funds and awareness Rana Bo
Page 60 and 61: FEATURE Trish Goulet briefly consid
Page 62 and 63: It’s fun being ‘Green’ James
Page 65 and 66: Business Law Education Moves from t
Page 67 and 68: FEATURE Left: Marshall Ring, Biomed
Page 69 and 70: BRIEFS Marcel A. Desautels Centre f
Page 72 and 73: In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canad
Page 74 and 75: New Courses & Program Offerings SEV
Page 76 and 77: Did the Supreme Court of Canada Get
Page 78 and 79: FEATURE JP: Does the Court’s deci
Page 80 and 81: Here at Robson Hall, unlike most No
Page 82 and 83: BRIEFS Moots & Competitions ROBSON
Page 84 and 85: Faculty Research Report 2011 - 2012
Page 86 and 87: Meet Our New Dean DR. LORNA A. TURN
Page 88 and 89: Faculty News TENURES AND PROMOTIONS
Page 90 and 91: BRIEFS Faculty Awards & Achievement
Page 94 and 95: Students questioned whether they sh
Page 96 and 97: New Boundaries of Philanthropy and
Page 98 and 99: oriented approach. The double botto
Page 100 and 101: Alumni News HOMECOMING 2011 & REUNI
Page 103 and 104: Alex Forrest - Class of 1995 By Mar
Page 105 and 106: PHOTO BY SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANA
Page 107 and 108: FEATURE lesser extent Dreyfus, they
Page 109 and 110: FEATURE Churchill’s viability as
Page 111 and 112: 1995 Gary Gervais, founder and pres
Page 113 and 114: Class Notes continued... 2008 Danie
Page 115 and 116: Osprey Capital Partners is a proud
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