Another Positive Change
In a change that has been a long time coming, both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal have abandoned the antiquated practice of requiring members of the bar to address justices as “my lady”, “my lord”, “your ladyship” or “your lordship”. This harmonizes the courts with both the Federal court and the Supreme Court of Canada who abandoned these titles long ago.
This is another positive change made in the last year aimed at improving inclusivity in our court system. When we introduce ourselves, we now state our pronouns. While some have scoffed at this step as unnecessary, it matters and we have a duty to make all members of the bar welcomed. I expect that in the future, new lawyers will be shocked that we were using old English titles for so long.
You can learn more about how to address justices here, here and here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Woznesensky is a partner at Harper Grey and practices with the firm’s Insurance and Health Law groups. An active volunteer, Jennifer is a director of the B.C. Chapter of the Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade, which raises funds for cancer research. She is one of the original LiL Advisors and has written a number of Dear LiL Blog posts.