Media Releases

Media Inquiries Michael Speers, Media & Communications Specialist , Telephone: 416-869-1047 ext. 365, media@oba.org

OBA Launching New Mental Health Award

  • January 08, 2024

The Ontario Bar Association has introduced a new award to encourage and recognize initiatives that improve mental health in the profession. The award will be named in honour of Orlando Da Silva, a former OBA president whose 2014 Opening Remarks initiative opened up a critical conversation about mental health in the profession, and who bravely shared his own story to help reduce stigma.

OBA Announces 2023-2024 Board of Directors

  • June 30, 2023

Katy Commisso has been elected 2nd vice-president of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA). The lawyer from Thunder Bay will be the first OBA president from the Northwest in more than 50 years when she takes office in 2025. Kelly McDermott will continue her presidency, while Kathryn Manning – as 1st vice-president – will become the next president of the OBA in September of 2024.

Kelly McDermott Begins OBA Presidency

  • March 01, 2023

As she takes the reins on March 1st, new OBA President Kelly McDermott is determined to ensure all Ontario lawyers come to know what she herself knows firsthand – the OBA is a supportive community that makes careers more satisfying and steps up when life and work collide. McDermott will focus her presidency on creating and formalizing reliable and accessible support networks to assist lawyers facing challenges in their careers and lives.

OBA Names New Innovator in Residence

  • November 08, 2022

Mante Molepo has been named the 2022-23 Ontario Bar Association Innovator in Residence and will lead the association’s new career accelerator for Indigenous and racialized lawyers in emerging areas of law.

Make A Will Month Highlights Need for Properly Drafted Wills

  • November 01, 2022

November is Make a Will Month, and the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) is once again spearheading a campaign to educate the public about the need for a will and how lawyers can help people draft one properly. Throughout the month, volunteers from the OBA will be leading free information sessions for the public in communities across Ontario.

OBA Extends Presidency of Karen Perron

  • June 23, 2022

Karen Perron will continue as OBA President for the first six months of the 2022-2023 term. The decision comes following the appointment of 1st Vice-President Ranjan Agarwal – who was the incoming president – to the Superior Court of Justice.

OBA Releases Report on Lack of Diversity in Mediation and Arbitration in Ontario

  • March 29, 2022

The Ontario Bar Association’s Working Group on Neutral Diversity has released a report examining diversity in alternative dispute resolution settings and proposing recommendations about how it can be improved in Ontario. Efforts to increase diversity in arbitration and mediation have been ongoing in other countries, but the issue has largely gone unaddressed in Ontario.