A Conversation with Colin Stevenson, the OBA’s Incoming President

  • August 28, 2019

Colin Stephenson

Poised to assume the OBA presidency on September 1, Colin Stevenson sits down to talk legal innovation, triathlons and the inspiration he has drawn from an eccentric TV barrister and an extraordinary Supreme Court of Canada justice.

What first drew you to the law? Did you ever imagine yourself doing anything else?

I originally wanted to be a vet. But spending one day with a vet, a herd of cows and lots of blood put me off that. The call of the courtroom from "Rumpole of the Bailey" was much more civilized and ultimately very compelling.

The law is a notoriously high-pressure profession. What do you like to do during your down time to blow off steam or simply relax?

In the last few years I have taken up triathlons and I am about to do my first Olympic length triathlon.

How did you come to be involved with the OBA?

I've been a member since I was first called to the Bar in Ontario in 1988. Membership used to be an unspoken professional responsibility. In my view, it is still a prerequisite to being a lawyer in Ontario. If lawyers do not join the OBA, our collective voice will have less influence and we will all be worse off.

As a long-time member, have you found what you needed or valued most from membership has changed as your career has evolved?

As one progresses through a career in law, the value of the OBA evolves from CPD to networking to giving back to your legal community and to finding fulfillment and satisfaction in a challenging profession.

Do you have a favourite OBA memory from this past year as 1st Vice President?

I particularly appreciated the OBA conference last year at 20 Toronto Street in which three judges from the Supreme Court of Canada advised young lawyers candidly and without any filters on how to practice law and on pursuing their legal careers.

What do you see as the value of an active and engaged community for lawyers in particular?

Law is still a profession even though the business component is also very important. We each need the support of the legal community to become a fulfilled and successful lawyer. It takes a legal village to raise a lawyer child.

Next month’s Momentum Summit will be the culmination of OBA efforts over the past year – led by President Vicars – to advance gender equality in the profession. What are you most looking forward to from this event?

I will be moderating a panel that includes a former president of the ABA, Hilarie Bass, a former president of the Law Society of England and Wales, Christina Blacklaws, and the Chair of the Australian Bar Association's Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Kate Eastman. It will be fascinating to compare the experience in these different countries.

As you take the reins as OBA President, legal innovation will be a cornerstone of your mandate. What’s your read on the profession’s appetite for adopting new technologies, and how do you envision the OBA leading the way?

The legal profession may be conservative by nature but smart lawyers know that if they do not innovate they will be left behind. All of us will have to use new technologies and collaborate with other professions to serve our clients better and to improve access to justice. The OBA will educate, innovate and celebrate with all its members.

What other issues or objectives will be a priority for you during your presidency?

We will continue to push hard for diversity and true inclusion and equal and fair opportunities for every lawyer. 

Who or what inspires you?

Justice Rosalie Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada is a brilliant, warm, engaging and inclusive leader in law. We should all try and follow in her footsteps, although she certainly took the road less travelled.