I was recently told that the only person who can really push you to succeed is yourself. And while it’s not a groundbreaking revelation, hearing this turned on a light for me. I realized that if I want to succeed and thrive in my legal career, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands. Although I’m surrounded by a network of lawyers who will build me up, ultimately the success of my career depends on me, and especially on what I do early on in my career.

Now some of you are going to read my blog below and say – this is entirely inconsistent with your approach to counsel during your recent trial. I am going to tell you it is not. That particular circumstance was one where I carefully calculated the return for not just me but for my client. Despite the healthy debate around whether I was right or wrong, I stand by that decision. That does not; however, mean that this is generally the approach I take. What I have to say in the following few paragraphs is who I am and really who I continue to strive to become. I hope you enjoy the read and will find your voice too.

Check out our top 5 blog posts from January – April including insights from Jennifer Woznesensky, Roshni Veerapen, Erin Hatch, Una Radoja and Kim Jakeman, QC.

Roe v. Wade was a 1973 decision of the US Supreme Court. The case came about in 1970 when Jane Roe (a fictional name used in court documents to protect the plaintiff’s identity) filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, who was the district attorney of Dallas County Texas, the county that Roe resided in. The underlying case was a challenge to a Texas law which made abortion illegal except by doctor’s orders to save a woman’s life. Roe alleged that the law was unconstitutionally vague and abridged her right of personal privacy.

Recently I was involved in a lengthy trial where, impressively, five of the seven lawyers in the courtroom were women. The judge and clerk were also women. One male lawyer was a senior member at the bar and the other male lawyer was from a younger generation of lawyers. Trial is difficult enough but during this trial, for the first time I can remember in 32 years of practice, I had to decide whether I should call out a senior male colleague during trial for his chauvinistic behavior directed at me but impacting all the women in the room. I decided to say nothing, and, in my view, it was the right choice, albeit not an easy one.