The expression, “time flies,” really does take on a whole new meaning as a lawyer. No matter your area of law, our profession is built around time: billable time, deadlines, hourly rates, court dates, limitation periods, years of call, hours of CPD completed - the implications of time are endless for us. In between constantly chasing time, it is often hard to believe how quickly the months, years, and seasons can pass on us.
Indeed, here we are in a new OBA year, with a new Board and a new executive at the helm of the Women Lawyers Forum (WLF). Time has certainly flown for me - it has been six years since I first became part of the executive, and I now have the pleasure of serving this year as the WLF’s Chair. On behalf of the executive, I would, in turn, like to welcome all of you to spend some of your time with us here at the WLF in the 2019/2020 OBA year.
Our executive this year comprises a number of new faces as well as returning members. I am so pleased to be working with such a passionate and accomplished group of women. I would also like to thank our outgoing 2018/2019 executive for their hard work in making our events and initiatives such a success.
Speaking again of time, this is the 26th year of the WLF. Last year we saw several celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of our section’s founding. It also saw gender equality be a central focus of the OBA Board of Directors thanks to the incredible efforts of 2018/2019 OBA President, Lynne Vicars. This year, we carry forward that legacy as our section continues to grow. This is no doubt helped by the fact that section membership is once again free this year for OBA members. Thank you to the Board and the new President of the OBA, Colin Stevenson, for making this possible.
The year has just begun, and yet we are already busy with planning a number of events this year. Our Fall Social on September 16, 2019 was sold out. The theme of the evening was celebrating the accomplishments of women lawyers. We heard remarks from Colin Stevenson and the OBA’s 1st Vice-President, Charlene Theodore, in front of a room packed with members old and new. The sense of community in the room was so heartwarming to experience. This stemmed in part from a giant push on Twitter the week before the social from lawyers who actually went out of their way to sponsor law students to attend our social. We thank each and every lawyer who took part in this drive - it is exactly this kind of network, community and empowering positivity that we want to imbue our work with this year.
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