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Advocacy Matters - March 2019

Keep up to date on what your fellow Society members have to say in Advocacy Matters. In this issue: From the Editor - Lauren Tomasich, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; Diversity In The Profession - Sarah Armstrong, Fasken; Signature Conference - Sabrina A. Lucenti, Dooley Lucenti LLP; TAS Report - Jeffrey J. Kroeker, B.A. (Hons.), J.D, Civis Law LLP; International Women’s Day - Yola S. Ventresca, Lerners LLP; The Future Of Advocacy - Brent J. Arnold, Gowling WLG

Keep up to date on what your fellow Society members have to say in Advocacy Matters. In this issue: From the Editor - Lauren Tomasich, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; Diversity In The Profession - Sarah Armstrong, Fasken; Signature Conference - Sabrina A. Lucenti, Dooley Lucenti LLP; TAS Report - Jeffrey J. Kroeker, B.A. (Hons.), J.D, Civis Law LLP; International Women’s Day - Yola S. Ventresca, Lerners LLP; The Future Of Advocacy - Brent J. Arnold, Gowling WLG

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ADVOCACY MATTERS<br />

The Advocates’ Society<br />

MARCH <strong>2019</strong>


What the TWEET is this?<br />

When you see this icon, throughout the publication,<br />

click on it to see what members are tweeting about.<br />

CONTENTS<br />

04<br />

09<br />

12<br />

14<br />

17<br />

20<br />

From the Editor<br />

Lauren Tomasich, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP<br />

Diversity In The Profession<br />

Sarah Armstrong, Fasken<br />

Signature Conference<br />

Sabrina A. Lucenti, Dooley Lucenti LLP<br />

TAS Report<br />

Jeffrey J. Kroeker, B.A. (Hons.), J.D, Civis Law LLP<br />

International Women’s Day<br />

Yola S. Ventresca, Lerners LLP<br />

The Future Of <strong>Advocacy</strong><br />

Brent J. Arnold, Gowling WLG<br />

Mastering the art and craft of advocacy is a career-long commitment and we are<br />

here to help. The Advocates’ Society has been the premier provider of advocacy<br />

skills training for over 30 years. We are proud to provide lawyers across Canada<br />

with the training and the confidence they need to execute on their feet when it<br />

counts. The Judge will notice…your clients will too.<br />

Editor: Lauren Tomasich, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Ltomasich@osler.com<br />

The opinions expressed by individual authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Advocates’ Society.<br />

Visit www.advocates.ca. Be part of the legacy of extraordinary advocates.<br />

3


FROM THE EDITOR<br />

COMING UP<br />

(Click on the program to learn more)<br />

4<br />

The season for change<br />

Lauren Tomasich, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP<br />

Our spring issue of <strong>Advocacy</strong> <strong>Matters</strong> carries<br />

with it a spirit of change – which is perfect for<br />

this time of year. Change is indeed a foundation<br />

of our profession. The law evolves to<br />

reflect societal realities, and we as litigators<br />

are catalysts and vehicles for such change,<br />

through, among other things, creative legal<br />

arguments made zealously on behalf of our<br />

clients. However, there are different types of<br />

change that are equally, if not more important<br />

– and this issue of <strong>Advocacy</strong> <strong>Matters</strong> is<br />

particularly inspirational on this front.<br />

Sarah Armstrong recounts the #Robing-<br />

Room revolution, which is an encouraging<br />

example of female advocates using social<br />

media to call attention to the disparity in<br />

the male and female robing rooms at Osgoode<br />

Hall. And what I have gone so far<br />

as to call a “revolution” is less about the<br />

space itself, but the symbolism of it all,<br />

and the importance of calling attention to<br />

these issues – otherwise, things simply do<br />

not change. Even if we like to think that<br />

things are “better” than the past, there are<br />

persistent and developing challenges that<br />

women and diverse members of the profession<br />

face – which are aptly captured in<br />

Yola Ventresca’s article about international<br />

women’s day, alongside a powerful summary<br />

of the historical origins of this annual<br />

<strong>March</strong> milestone.<br />

Change comes in other forms in our profession,<br />

and does not need to take the form<br />

of new law from an appellate court or the<br />

galvanizing of a societal movement to impact<br />

our work as litigators. Technological<br />

advancements and ways to adjudicate cases<br />

more efficiently and effectively are top<br />

of the agenda for the Toronto Commercial<br />

List. Jeffrey Kroeker recounts the remarks<br />

of the Commercial List lead judge, Justice<br />

Hainey at the annual TAS “Evening with the<br />

Commercial List”, with the central message<br />

being that the Commercial List is committed<br />

to being business-minded and practical in<br />

its approach to dispute resolution. Brent Arnold<br />

also summarizes the Commercial List’s<br />

new “Digital Hearing Workspace”. Technology<br />

was also a key theme at the personal<br />

injury bar’s annual TAS “Tricks of the Trade”<br />

conference, which Sabrina Lucenti reviews.<br />

This is all important and productive change<br />

that facilitates effective dispute resolution.<br />

With that, here’s hoping that this spring<br />

brings positive change to our profession<br />

and to all of your practices – and hoping<br />

this edition of <strong>Advocacy</strong> <strong>Matters</strong> showcases<br />

that we are off to a good start.<br />

APR 8<br />

Celebrating <strong>Advocacy</strong><br />

Reception with<br />

The Hon. Justice<br />

Suzanne Côté<br />

APR 16<br />

Negotiation<br />

Strategies for<br />

Litigators<br />

(Toronto)<br />

APR 4<br />

Finding Your Hook:<br />

How To Develop a<br />

Winning Case<br />

(Toronto)<br />

APR 9<br />

Women in<br />

Litigation<br />

Symposium<br />

(Calgary)<br />

APR 17<br />

Commercial<br />

Litigation PG:<br />

Diversity & Inclusion<br />

Breakfast<br />

(Toronto)<br />

APR 4<br />

Tax Litigation:<br />

Settlement<br />

Conference in Tax<br />

Litigation<br />

(Toronto)<br />

APR 12<br />

Insolvency<br />

Litigation<br />

Toronto<br />

APR 8<br />

Women in<br />

Litigation<br />

Symposium<br />

(Vancouver)<br />

APR 10<br />

Women in<br />

Litigation<br />

Symposium<br />

(Edmonton)<br />

APR 12<br />

L’Art Du<br />

Contre-interrogatoire<br />

(Montreal)


BENCHER ELECTION <strong>2019</strong><br />

Lawyer Candidates Outside Toronto<br />

Lawyer Candidates from Toronto<br />

Be an informed voter. Get to know the TAS Members who are running for Bencher in <strong>2019</strong>.<br />

The <strong>2019</strong> Bencher election for the Law Society of Ontario will take place from mid-April to April 30,<br />

<strong>2019</strong>. On this page we showcase the TAS members who are running in the <strong>2019</strong> election.<br />

Full information on the election process, voting, etc can be found on the<br />

Law Society of Ontario website.<br />

R. Lee Akazaki<br />

John Callaghan<br />

Jeff Cowan<br />

Signa A. Daum<br />

Shanks<br />

Jeremy Devereux<br />

Rebecca C. Durcan<br />

Nathan Baker -<br />

Central East<br />

François N. Baril -<br />

East<br />

Peter Beach -<br />

East<br />

Jack Braithwaite -<br />

Northeast -<br />

Acclaimed<br />

Dianne G. Corbiere -<br />

Central East<br />

Teresa Donnelly -<br />

Southwest<br />

Julian Falconer<br />

Joseph Groia<br />

Paul Le Vay<br />

Atrisha Lewis<br />

Samuel Marr<br />

William C. McDowell<br />

Etienne Esquega -<br />

Northwest<br />

Jacqueline Horvat -<br />

Southwest<br />

Michael Lerner -<br />

Southwest<br />

Cecil Lyon -<br />

East<br />

James John Mays -<br />

Southwest<br />

Jorge E. Pineda -<br />

Central South -<br />

Pending<br />

Isfahan Merali<br />

Malcolm Mercer<br />

David Milosevic<br />

Barbara Murchie<br />

Sean Robichaud<br />

Jonathan Rosenthal<br />

M. Stephen Rastin -<br />

Central East<br />

Andrew Spurgeon -<br />

Central South<br />

Deepa Tailor -<br />

Central West<br />

Claire Wilkinson -<br />

Central West<br />

Mirilyn R. Sharp<br />

Julia Shin Doi<br />

Megan Shortreed<br />

Darryl Singer<br />

Peter C. Wardle


The Catzman Award<br />

for Professionalism & Civility<br />

Throughout his distinguished career both as an advocate<br />

and a judge, Justice Marvin Catzman earned an exemplary<br />

reputation for his knowledge of the law, his integrity, his<br />

fairness, his civility and his dedication to the highest ideals of<br />

the legal profession. He inspired younger lawyers by example<br />

and contributed to legal education by writing and lecturing<br />

with great insight and humour. He was unfailingly generous to<br />

colleagues with his time and expertise. Justice Catzman’s<br />

career was characterized by all of the qualities that are<br />

encompassed by the terms professionalism and civility.<br />

The successful candidate for the Catzman Award will be<br />

a person who exemplifies these qualities.<br />

Call For Nominations<br />

The Catzman family, The Advocates’ Society and the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory<br />

Committee on Professionalism are pleased to call for nominations for an award in memory<br />

of the late Justice Marvin A. Catzman, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated<br />

a high degree of professionalism and civility in the practice of law. The Award will be<br />

presented by the Chief Justice at the Opening of the Courts in September <strong>2019</strong> and<br />

acknowledged at The Advocates’ Society End of Term Dinner in June 2020.<br />

Deadline Friday, May 31, <strong>2019</strong><br />

Please fill out the following nomination form and attach the nominee’s C.V. and two<br />

(2) letters of support (to a maximum of two (2) pages).<br />

For questions, please contact Rachel Stewart, Events and Awards Manager,<br />

at rachel@advocates.ca<br />

SUBMIT NOMINATION<br />

DIVERSITY IN THE PROFESSION<br />

The recently successful<br />

Osgoode Hall #RobingRoom<br />

campaign is just<br />

the beginning<br />

Sarah Armstrong, Fasken<br />

On February 7, after spending three days in court at Osgoode Hall with a fierce group of women<br />

litigators fighting for pay equity and equality rights, Fay Faraday tweeted photos of the then “Lady<br />

Barristers” sign on the women’s robing room and of her colleagues crammed inside the room with<br />

the comment: “But after 25+ years doing this, I still need to walk past the so-2-centuries-ago #LadyBarrister<br />

sign & there are still only 12 lockers for women litigators at 130 Queen St. in T.O. where the Court of<br />

Appeal, Divisional Court and Superior Court all sit. First thing every woman litigator who came in this week<br />

said was “are all the lockers full again?”. Answer: eye roll, sigh ... yes. The lawyers for just 3 of 6 parties on<br />

ONE case fill more than half the robing room. I hear the men have 75+. #RoomOfOurOwn”.<br />

Enter fearless advocate for equality and #WomenInLaw and prolific tweeter, Breanna Needham.<br />

In less than 24 hours following Faraday’s tweets, Needham and a group of allies had: (i) produced a<br />

Twitter photo display of the shocking disparity between the two robing rooms; and, (ii) developed<br />

a petition with over 500 signatures asking the Law Society of Ontario to retire the “Lady Barristers”<br />

robing room at Osgoode Hall in favour of a unisex space where the men’s robing room is.<br />

8 9


WOMEN<br />

in Litigation Symposium<br />

The Advocates’ Society’s award-winning Women in Litigation<br />

Symposium is coming to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton this<br />

spring. Join us for this unique networking conference designed<br />

for female litigators where you will receive candid advice and<br />

practical strategies for your life and practice as a litigator.<br />

To learn more or register visit www.advocates.ca<br />

Reactions from fellow women<br />

litigators on twitter who, like me,<br />

had just seen photos of the men’s<br />

robing room for the first time included<br />

the following: Demoralizing.<br />

Gutted. OMG. Just silly. We’ve<br />

been had. Are you freaking kidding<br />

me??!? [and a few more explicit<br />

turns of phrase which I will not<br />

quote here, but you get the idea].<br />

LEAF tweeted: “That the disparity<br />

between robing rooms surprised<br />

so many (after existing for so many<br />

years!) is indicative of how privilege<br />

works - maintained through secrecy.<br />

Imagine what else we’ll discover<br />

if we pull back the curtain on other<br />

inequalities through #paytransparency,<br />

etc!”. Many male advocates<br />

expressed surprise on Twitter as<br />

well, many of them evidently having<br />

had no idea how “quaint” the<br />

women’s robing room was.<br />

As Needham and many others<br />

succinctly articulated in 240<br />

character tweets, the campaign<br />

is about more than just a room.<br />

Robing rooms are a place where<br />

informal mentoring, networking<br />

and even substantive discussion<br />

on files takes place. Yet, for decades,<br />

women litigators have had<br />

to tolerate (albeit not always happily)<br />

small, cramped and sometimes<br />

non-existent robing rooms.<br />

We’ve waited by the doors of the<br />

courthouse while our male colleagues<br />

have taken forever to get<br />

changed out of their robes. And<br />

we’ve been briefed on important<br />

robing room discussions about<br />

our files on the walk back from<br />

Court. Even more broadly, the<br />

#RobingRoom campaign is about<br />

inclusion and the women’s robing<br />

room being representative of the<br />

systemic inequality that is pervasive<br />

in the legal profession.<br />

To its credit, less than a day after<br />

the initial Twitter storm, the LSO<br />

replaced the “Lady Barristers” sign<br />

and responded to say: “We appreciate<br />

the concerns outlined in the<br />

petition about the women’s robing<br />

room at Osgoode Hall and we are<br />

looking into options. We’ll provide<br />

an update as soon as we are able.”<br />

Then, on Feb 20, LSO announced:<br />

“Change is coming! We’re working<br />

to create one dedicated gender-neutral<br />

space for all barristers<br />

to robe & network in what’s now<br />

the men’s robing room. Modifications<br />

are needed to support personal<br />

privacy in the washrooms.<br />

Once complete the space will be<br />

open to all. We are working out<br />

specific plans and timelines. Please<br />

stay tuned for updates as we work<br />

to ensure robing & networking facilities<br />

are inclusive & welcoming.<br />

In the meantime, please continue<br />

to respect people’s privacy.”<br />

The Twitter campaign to make<br />

the Osgoode Hall robing room<br />

facilities fair illustrates just how<br />

quickly change can happen when<br />

fearless advocates speak out<br />

about an issue and work together<br />

using the power of social media<br />

to make change. To be sure,<br />

there are far bigger injustices and<br />

battles to be fought but achieving<br />

an inclusive space for counsel at<br />

the building housing Ontario’s<br />

highest Court is an important and<br />

symbolic step forward.<br />

VANCOUVER<br />

Monday, April 8, <strong>2019</strong><br />

9:30 am to 3:35 pm<br />

UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson St.<br />

CALGARY<br />

Tuesday, April 9, <strong>2019</strong><br />

9:30 am - 3:30 pm<br />

Hotel Le Germain, 899 Centre Street SW<br />

EDMONTON<br />

Wednesday, April 10, <strong>2019</strong><br />

1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m<br />

The Sutton Place Hotel Edmonton<br />

10235 101 St NW<br />

10 11


SIGNATURE CONFERENCE<br />

Tricks of the Trade <strong>2019</strong>:<br />

Cyberspace and back<br />

Sabrina A. Lucenti, Dooley Lucenti LLP<br />

The personal injury bar got their usual head start in <strong>2019</strong> with the annual Tricks of the Trade<br />

Conference in Toronto. Conference chairs Patrick J. Brown, McLeish Orlando LLP, Susan E.<br />

Gunter, Dutton Brock LLP and Peter W. Kryworuk, Lerners LLP lead a great lineup of speakers<br />

who provided updates on recent court decisions, hot topics in the law and trial advocacy tips.<br />

This year’s Tricks took the audience on a wonderful journey through the #digitalworld.<br />

Rikin Morzaria, McLeish Orlando LLP (@RikinMorzaria) discussed social media evidence<br />

from the investigation phase through to trial. He covered what you need to know about<br />

preserving and producing social media evidence during the discovery process and a case<br />

law update on disclosure obligations and the use of social media evidence at trial.<br />

Daniel Michaluk, Hicks Morley (@danmichaluk) gave us a refresher on privacy law including<br />

everything you need to know about the tort of inclusion upon seclusion and a case law update<br />

on the exclusion of evidence obtained in breach of privacy. In a time when people are<br />

sharing their day-to-day happenings with hundreds of their closest “friends”, where do we<br />

draw the line on one’s reasonable expectation of privacy? Asking for a friend.<br />

Catherine Bruder of Bruder<br />

Springstead LLP gave a case law<br />

update on how to get your social<br />

media and surveillance evidence<br />

before the court at trial.<br />

Everyone knows the way to a<br />

personal injury defence lawyer’s<br />

heart is through surveillance.<br />

However, there is nothing<br />

more heart wrenching than<br />

having the evidence excluded.<br />

Avoid the unknowns of a voir<br />

dire. When in doubt, disclose!<br />

Chris Bentley, Legal Innovation<br />

Zone (@Chris_Bentley) talked<br />

about artificial intelligence and<br />

the future of personal injury litigation.<br />

As the first legal tech incubator,<br />

Chris explained how the<br />

savvy LIZ team and their partners<br />

are developing fast, simple,<br />

affordable decision-making techniques<br />

and solutions to improve<br />

legal services and the justice<br />

system. To learn more about LIZ<br />

and their affiliated startups visit<br />

www.legalinnovationzone.ca<br />

When the voyage through<br />

cyberspace was complete, the<br />

unplugged portion of the conference<br />

took the audience back<br />

to basics.<br />

The Advocates’ Society welcomed<br />

keynote speaker Erika<br />

Chamberlain, Dean of Law<br />

at of the University of Western<br />

Ontario. Dean Chamberlain<br />

took the audience on a journey<br />

through the evolution of the<br />

duty of care in negligence. Dean<br />

Chamberlain discussed recent<br />

trends in the law that suggest<br />

that the courts may be moving<br />

towards a more fact-specific or<br />

category-based inquiry when<br />

determining whether a duty of<br />

care exists. For torts and other<br />

sorts, follow Dean Chamberlain<br />

at @lawdeanerika.<br />

Last, but certainly not least, the<br />

panel of @SCJOntario_en judges<br />

(yes, the Ontario Superior Court<br />

of Justice is on Twitter) gave novice<br />

advocates trial tips (not tricks)<br />

on qualifying an expert witness<br />

and choosing the right expert.<br />

Here are some key takeaways:<br />

(1) Eliminate the guesswork.<br />

Write out for the court the area<br />

in which you seek to qualify your<br />

expert and in which he or she will<br />

give opinion evidence. (2) Forget<br />

the fillers. From the moment<br />

you choose your expert until the<br />

moment you qualify him or her<br />

at trial, focus in on education,<br />

training and experience. If your<br />

expert does not have the expertise<br />

necessary to assist the court,<br />

do not risk losing your case by<br />

calling the expert anyway. Finally,<br />

the panel was unanimous in<br />

saying to all advocates: “get up<br />

on your feet and try your cases”.<br />

#nocomputersneeded<br />

Another great day of learning<br />

and collegiality at Tricks of the<br />

Trade. See you next January!<br />

12 13


TAS REPORT<br />

New one-judge civil case<br />

management pilot project<br />

Jeffrey J. Kroeker, B.A. (Hons.), J.D, Civis Law LLP<br />

On January 23 rd , <strong>2019</strong>, The Advocates’ Society hosted its annual Evening with the<br />

Commercial List reception with honoured guests Regional Senior Justice, The<br />

Honourable Geoffrey Morawetz; Commercial List lead judge, The Honourable<br />

Justice Glenn Hainey; and his Commercial List judicial colleagues, Justices Victoria<br />

Chiappetta, Barbara Conway, Bernadette Dietrich, Thomas McEwen, Laurence<br />

Pattillo, and Michael Penny. With more than 70 lawyers attending, the bench and<br />

bar were able to have discussions about issues and experiences regarding Court<br />

processes in an informal setting.<br />

This event was generously<br />

sponsored by NERA<br />

Economic Consulting.<br />

Lead judge of the Commercial<br />

List, Justice Hainey gave<br />

an address that strongly encouraged<br />

lawyers to embrace<br />

case management as a means<br />

to produce more effective<br />

and timely results. Justice<br />

Hainey stressed that he and<br />

his fellow judges are working<br />

to make the Commercial List<br />

more efficient, user-friendly,<br />

and responsive to litigants<br />

with the aim of providing<br />

timely and cost-effective service<br />

to commercial clients.<br />

With that in mind, Justice<br />

Hainey discussed the merits<br />

of a new One-Judge Model<br />

pilot project which landed<br />

on February 1 st , <strong>2019</strong>, where<br />

parties can consent to have<br />

one judge assigned at the<br />

outset of a civil proceeding.<br />

Under this pilot initiative, a<br />

single judge will case manage<br />

all pre-trial hearings; case<br />

conferences; and, the trial<br />

itself (only settlement-related<br />

case conferences will be<br />

presided over by a different<br />

judge). The aim of the pilot<br />

is to allow judges to become<br />

entirely familiar with the issues<br />

in the dispute and will<br />

allow judges to vet particular<br />

issues before scheduling<br />

interlocutory motions.. Of<br />

note: The Advocates’ Society<br />

worked with other legal organizations<br />

to support the<br />

Court in its development of<br />

the pilot program, as part<br />

of the Society’s commitment<br />

to improving our justice system<br />

and enhancing access<br />

to justice. You can expect to<br />

hear more from the Society<br />

about the program following<br />

its launch. In the meantime,<br />

for more information, please<br />

review the Practice Advisory<br />

on the website of the Ontario<br />

Superior Court of Justice.<br />

Another exciting evolution<br />

announced by Justice Hainey<br />

is the mandatory “Digital<br />

hearing workspace pilot project”.<br />

As of February 11, <strong>2019</strong>,<br />

documents can be uploaded<br />

to a digital workspace website<br />

hosted by the Court.<br />

Owing to increases in judicial<br />

workloads and lengthy<br />

wait times for trials on both<br />

the Commercial and Estates<br />

Lists, Justice Hainey indicated<br />

a judicial shift toward more<br />

frequent use of case conferences<br />

to resolve as many<br />

issues as possible before<br />

contested motions are even<br />

scheduled. Justice Hainey<br />

also noted that full and partial<br />

Summary Judgment Motions<br />

will no longer be scheduled<br />

at 9:30am meetings in<br />

Chambers. Counsel wishing<br />

to bring full or partial<br />

summary judgment motions<br />

must first schedule a case<br />

conference to have the merits<br />

of their matter vetted by<br />

a judge before a motion can<br />

even be scheduled. Counsel<br />

at the event were also urged<br />

to limit 9:30am meetings in<br />

Chambers to a 10-minute<br />

maximum. If a 9:30am Chambers<br />

appointment is expected<br />

to exceed 10 minutes,<br />

counsel are strongly encouraged<br />

to arrange a case conference,<br />

which can also be<br />

scheduled within a relatively<br />

short period of time.<br />

Finally, nominations for the<br />

Commercial List Users Committee<br />

(CLUC) will be open<br />

for new members of CLUC for<br />

the fall. Justice Hainey is encouraging<br />

all to serve on the<br />

CLUC, which is for a 3-year<br />

term. For more information<br />

click here.<br />

14 15


INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY<br />

International Women’s Day:<br />

a modern consideration<br />

of the centuries long<br />

struggle for equality<br />

Yola S. Ventresca, Lerners LLP<br />

18 th Annual Spring Symposium<br />

Wednesday, April 24, <strong>2019</strong> | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | The Carlu, College Park, Toronto, ON<br />

What sets Spring Symposium apart from every other civil litigation conference?<br />

ADVOCACY. It’s what our members do and, for nearly two decades, we have advanced the<br />

work of advocates with Spring Symposium. Join us on April 24 in Toronto and experience<br />

rich, collegial learning that focuses on what you do every day – ADVOCACY.<br />

One of the iconic images of revolutionary movements that have shaped the course of world<br />

history is a grainy photograph of thousands of women textile workers crowding the streets<br />

of Petrograd, then the capital of the Russian Empire, on <strong>March</strong> 8, 1917. The date had been<br />

purposefully chosen. For years, in fact, in both Europe and North America, <strong>March</strong> 8 had<br />

come to be associated with the gathering global movement for women’s rights, most urgently<br />

the right to vote. The women textile workers were marching in the streets of the<br />

Russian capital, their banners declared, for ‘bread and peace’. They were protesting bread<br />

shortages and, more broadly, an increasingly unpopular and destructive war effort whose<br />

disastrous direction was laid squarely at the feet of a repressive, derelict Tsarist regime.<br />

The Advocates’ Society 17


Though it was scarcely evident<br />

to anyone at the time,<br />

even to the most acute observer,<br />

the march for bread and<br />

peace sparked a movement<br />

that would, in short order, destroy<br />

one of the world’s longest-surviving<br />

dynasties, usher<br />

in a radical political, social and<br />

economic experiment with its<br />

own repressive and violent impulses,<br />

and fuel revolutionary<br />

dreams and delusions around<br />

the world. What began as a<br />

protest among women textile<br />

workers, who were among the<br />

most exploited segments of<br />

Russia’s working class, sparked<br />

what came to be known as the<br />

February Revolution, as the<br />

women’s march morphed into<br />

citywide demonstrations that<br />

virtually paralyzed the capital<br />

of one of the world’s major<br />

powers in the middle of a<br />

cataclysmic global war. Within<br />

a week, Tsar Nicholas II had<br />

abdicated, yielding power to<br />

the Provisional Government<br />

which, in turn, was toppled<br />

several months later by Lenin<br />

and the Bolsheviks during<br />

what came to be known as the<br />

October Revolution.<br />

It was not the first time in<br />

history, nor would it be the<br />

last, that women in a given<br />

place and time transgressed<br />

the norms and conventions of<br />

their day to articulate a vision<br />

of a better world. It is commonplace<br />

to attribute to these<br />

pioneering women’s marches<br />

a rather traditional motivation<br />

– women as wives and mothers<br />

taking to the streets and<br />

public squares to exert their<br />

moral influence as keepers of<br />

hearth and home, on matters<br />

that were deemed “proper” to<br />

the domestic sphere.<br />

Yet this commonplace assumption<br />

obscures the essential<br />

political feature of what has<br />

come to be celebrated as International<br />

Women’s Day. Well before<br />

the decisive, epochal events<br />

that flowed from the Russian<br />

women’s march for bread and<br />

peace in 1917, the marches, protests<br />

and celebrations of <strong>March</strong> 8<br />

were fundamentally about challenging<br />

and changing the structures<br />

of power and privilege that<br />

sustained gender discrimination,<br />

inequality, exploitation, harassment<br />

and violence; hence the<br />

importance of the right to vote for<br />

that pioneering generation of the<br />

women’s rights movements. For<br />

much of history, and across cultures,<br />

mobilizing women in the<br />

public sphere meant crossing<br />

boundaries; it meant challenging<br />

cultural and legal constraints that<br />

deprived women everywhere<br />

of basic political rights and legal<br />

status, as well as the social, educational<br />

and economic opportunities<br />

that flowed from having<br />

political rights and legal status.<br />

Over one hundred years<br />

have passed since the women<br />

of Petrograd helped to spark a<br />

global revolution whose reverberations<br />

are felt to this day. It<br />

goes without saying that things<br />

have changed for the better;<br />

so much so that we have<br />

come to embrace International<br />

Women’s Day as an occasion<br />

to celebrate women’s historic<br />

achievements with perhaps<br />

little more than a symbolic nod<br />

to the lessons of history.<br />

It’s wholly understandable to<br />

want to focus on the present,<br />

and the future, which is what<br />

the women marchers and activists<br />

of previous generations<br />

did. But the lessons of the<br />

past can help to put the challenges<br />

of today, and tomorrow,<br />

in their proper perspective,<br />

thereby empowering us<br />

to challenge the norms, conventions<br />

and practices that<br />

sustain systemic gender discrimination,<br />

harassment and<br />

violence. It’s commonplace to<br />

hear that we are so very far<br />

removed from the structures<br />

and attitudes that justified the<br />

exploitation of those Russian<br />

women textile workers a century<br />

ago. While the social and<br />

political context certainly has<br />

changed, the fact is that subtle<br />

and not-so-subtle barriers to<br />

equality, parity and opportunity<br />

remain. Gaps persist, for<br />

instance, between women and<br />

men in access to, and mobility<br />

in, STEM-related fields. Gaps<br />

persist between women and<br />

men in wages and professional<br />

opportunity in emerging fields.<br />

Gaps persist between women<br />

and men in access to education.<br />

Gaps persist between women<br />

and men in terms of parenting<br />

demands and expectations. And<br />

gaps persist between women<br />

and men in terms of access to<br />

the corridors of power – political<br />

and economic. In the legal profession,<br />

for instance, for all the<br />

advances women lawyers have<br />

made in recent decades, gaps<br />

persist in terms of access to the<br />

upper ranks of power and decision<br />

making; gaps persist that<br />

continue to favour traditional<br />

male dominated paths to advancement<br />

in the profession,<br />

caused primarily by turning a<br />

blind eye to the systemic barriers<br />

that inhibit a level playing<br />

field between women and men.<br />

And, as I write this on the eve<br />

of International Women’s Day<br />

<strong>2019</strong>, I would be remiss not to<br />

give a nod to the mini-revolution<br />

we saw this past month,<br />

when a group of like-minded<br />

women lawyers, banded<br />

together (with the support of<br />

many male allies), to march<br />

digitally to demand parity in<br />

the robing rooms at Osgoode<br />

Hall. A revolution that was met<br />

with quick success; evidence<br />

of the power of mobilizing<br />

women’s voices.<br />

18 19


THE FUTURE OF ADVOCACY<br />

A Digital Hearing Workspace<br />

for the Commercial List<br />

Brent J. Arnold, Gowling WLG<br />

The Commercial List has long been a leader in the Ontario courts in adopting procedural<br />

innovations and embracing technology in (and out of) court. The latest example of this forward<br />

thinking takes the form of the Digital Hearing Workspace, which recently completed<br />

testing and was rolled out on February 11, <strong>2019</strong>, all courtesy of the MAG Innovation Office.<br />

The Commercial List accepts and encourages parties to submit materials electronically. The<br />

Superior Court’s Guide Concerning e-Delivery of Documents in the Ontario Superior Court of<br />

Justice provides guidelines for the preparation and formatting, naming and filing of documents<br />

in this manner, and the current<br />

practice is to file documents on<br />

USB keys in addition to paper<br />

copies. But USB keys are easy to<br />

misplace, and judges reportedly<br />

end up with drawers full of them.<br />

The new Workspace provides a<br />

collaborative, interactive online<br />

portal for sharing and filing electronic<br />

versions of documents.<br />

Documents can be uploaded<br />

to a party’s portion of the<br />

case site, and then shared with<br />

the parties and court. Once<br />

posted to the site, they can be<br />

downloaded or opened on the<br />

site in their native format or<br />

viewed in a portal viewer that<br />

allows quick navigation of the<br />

document. Limited annotation<br />

functions are available in the<br />

portal viewer as well.<br />

(A screen capture of the Workplace case dashboard, using<br />

dummy documents from a test session.)<br />

The MAG anticipates eventually<br />

rolling out the Workspace<br />

for use in civil, criminal<br />

and family matters following<br />

a successful proof-of-concept<br />

on the Commercial List. For<br />

now, you’ll still need to file<br />

paper copies as well, but the<br />

Workspace represents a big<br />

step in what (I hope) will be a<br />

drive toward paperless courts<br />

in the future.<br />

20 21


AN EVENING WITH THE COMMERCIAL LIST<br />

Wednesday, January 23, <strong>2019</strong> | TAS Education Centre, Toronto ON<br />

TRICKS OF THE TRADE <strong>2019</strong><br />

Friday, January 25, <strong>2019</strong> | The Carlu, Toronto ON<br />

The Honourable Justice Mark L.J. Edwards, Superior Court of Justice , The Honourable<br />

Justice Darla A. Wilson, Superior Court of Justice, Peter W. Kryworuk, Lerners LLP<br />

Robert L. Love,<br />

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP<br />

Dean Erika Chamberlain, University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law<br />

22<br />

The Hon. Glenn Hainey,<br />

Robert Macdonald, Fogler, Rubinoff LLP;<br />

Christopher A.W. Bentley,<br />

Lisa Armstrong,<br />

Daniel Michaluk,<br />

Ontario Superior Court of Justice<br />

Monique Jilesen, Lenczner Slaght<br />

Legal Innovation Zone<br />

Strigberger Brown Armstrong LLP<br />

Hicks Morley Hamilton 23<br />

Stewart Storie LLP


CROSS-EXAMINATION: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS<br />

Wednesday, January 30, <strong>2019</strong> | TAS Education Centre, Toronto, ON<br />

The John P. Nelligan Award<br />

for Excellence in <strong>Advocacy</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />

Tuesday, May 14, <strong>2019</strong> | Reception: 6:00 p.m. | Dinner: 7:00 p.m.<br />

Shaw Centre, 55 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa | Dress: Business Attire<br />

Please join us as we honour William J. Sammon, Barnes, Sammon LLP<br />

with The John P. Nelligan Award for Excellence in <strong>Advocacy</strong>.<br />

The John P. Nelligan Award for Excellence in <strong>Advocacy</strong> is a tribute to a<br />

member of the bar in the Ottawa region. This dinner is a celebration<br />

of excellence for a leading advocate who has demonstrated their<br />

distinction as counsel, made a significant contribution to the profession<br />

of law and to the well-being of the community at large.<br />

Ticket(s) are $135 per person plus HST<br />

Registration closes Wednesday, May 7, <strong>2019</strong><br />

Steve Tenai, Aird & Berlis LLP, Alan Mark, Goodmans LLP, Sandra Barton, Gowlings WLG,<br />

Raj Anand, LSM, WeirFoulds LLP<br />

ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ADVOCACY<br />

Tuesday, February 12, <strong>2019</strong> | TAS Education Centre, Toronto, ON<br />

To learn more or register, click here<br />

Generously Sponsored by:<br />

24 25<br />

Premier Dinner Sponsor Supporter<br />

Supporter<br />

Alexandra S. Clark, Ministry of the Attorney General, Jennifer L. McAleer, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP,<br />

David P. Jacobs, Watson Jacobs McCreary LLP


TOP CASES IN COMMERCIAL LITIGATION<br />

Wednesday, February 20, <strong>2019</strong> | TAS Education Centre, Toronto, ON<br />

Paul Guy, Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP, Mark Ross, Ross Barristers P.C., Erin Pleet, Thornton Grout Finnigan LLP,<br />

George Pakozdi, Boghosian + Allen LLP, Atrisha S. Lewis, McCarthy Tétrault LLP<br />

THE INSIDE STORY: ADVOCACY AT THE INTERSECTION OF<br />

LITIGATION AND THE BUSINESS OF CANNABIS<br />

Wednesday, February 27, <strong>2019</strong> | Arbitration Place, Toronto, ON<br />

<strong>2019</strong> End of Term Dinner <br />

Thursday, June 20, <strong>2019</strong> | Cocktail Reception: 5:30 pm | Dinner: 7:00 pm<br />

Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building, 255 Front Street West, Toronto<br />

Black Tie | A member-only event<br />

Generously sponsored by:<br />

VICTORY VERBATIM<br />

REPORTING SERVICES, INC.<br />

26<br />

Speakers: Matt Maurer, Torkin Manes LLP, Sony Gokhale, General Counsel, The Supreme Cannabis Company<br />

Premier Dinner Sponsor<br />

Cocktail Reception Sponsor<br />

After-Party<br />

Photo Booth Sponsor<br />

After-Party<br />

Patio Sponsor<br />

After-Party<br />

Zone Sponsor


TAS MEDAL DINNER HONOURING BRYAN FINLAY, Q.C.<br />

Tuesday, February 12, <strong>2019</strong> | Hilton Toronto, Toronto, ON<br />

LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT:<br />

WOMEN’S BREAKFAST ON SOCIAL MEDIA<br />

Friday, <strong>March</strong> 1, <strong>2019</strong> | TAS Education Centre, Toronto, ON<br />

Bryan Finlay, Q.C., WeirFoulds LLP, and family<br />

Denise Sayer, Paris & Company, Erin H. Durant, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Erin C. Cowling, Freelance Litigator & President of Flex<br />

Legal Network Inc., Kelly Doctor, Goldblatt Partners LLP, P.A. Neena Gupta, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP<br />

BARRIE COURTHOUSE: THE EFFECTIVE WITNESS<br />

Thursday, <strong>March</strong> 7, <strong>2019</strong> | Barrie Courthouse, Barrie, ON<br />

The Honourable Ian Binnie, C.C., Q.C., Arbitration Place<br />

28 29<br />

Bryan Finlay, Q.C., WeirFoulds LLP,<br />

and TAS President Brian Gover, Stockwoods LLP<br />

Bryan Finlay, Q.C., WeirFoulds LLP


www.advocates.ca

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