Guest Blogger, Jaeda Lee, shares her feedback on a session she attended on discrimination and systemic racism within the legal profession. Originally published on March 17, 2021. To read more about Building a Foundation for Change: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019–2022, click here. 

Early this year, Erin Durant, partner and litigator at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG), wrote an article documenting lessons learned from her burnout in January of 2021 – read that article here. Since then, Erin has been featured in an article by The Globe and Mail, which details why we can no longer blame working-from-home burnout on “pandemic fatigue” but that there a multitude of other contributing factors at play – read it (with a subscription) here. Erin’s most recent post is called, “Why Speaking About Mental Health as a Leader is Not Brave – but Necessary” and the title speaks for itself. The article is a must read – you can find it here. The reality is, that we are all human and there is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now. We feel it too, and LiL is…

(Read Kim’s previous blog post on her transition to remote work here). Dear Curious Young Lawyer: I think that your question about mentorship is an excellent one. How to effectively provide and receive mentorship is relevant not only to those who have an alternate work arrangement in place (or are contemplating that), but this is currently an issue of great importance to so many lawyers and staff who are working remotely due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to your question. However, I am happy to share my thoughts about some of the things that I think both mentors and mentees can do to promote and maintain these vital relationships in an increasingly virtual environment. Mentorship is more important than ever given the challenging times that we are in. At present, I think that mentors and leaders within…

An addition to the Booker Prize long-list in 2020, I can see why “Such a Fun Age” by Kiley Reid was well received by critics and book worms alike. “Such a Fun Age” explores inter-racial relationships, specifically drawing on the relationship between an upper-middle class white woman (Alix) and her young African American babysitter (Emira). The book mocks the pursuit of ‘wokeness’ by the Caucasian characters while addressing themes of fetishization and tokenism along the way.

I am pleased to share a recent survey on compensation. Before we dig into the stats, we’d like to thank the CBA-WLF for commissioning a survey to consider partner compensation; a laudable project aimed at considering whether there is disparity between partner compensation by gender. At the time the survey was commissioned, no other survey existed in Canada directed at law firm compensation. The CBA-WLF Compensation Survey Report can be found here. Due to sensitivities related to disclosing individual wages, even if expressed as a percentage of total income, the study focused on the factors considered in determining compensation. The survey had a 42% response rate of 27 firms. On average, the firms that responded had 49 partners of which 30% were women. Female lawyers made up about 38% of participating firms so the partnership ratio is slightly lower but…