Features

Impress your colleagues by showing off your knowledge of the most innovative ideas, varied perspectives and independent opinions from within our diverse network of lawyers across Ontario. 

Today
Today
photo of OBA Career Accelerator participants, standing in OBA member lounge in front of TV screen with Career Accelerator logo

Igniting the Influence of Indigenous and Racialized Lawyers at the Forefront of Practice

  • August 30, 2023
  • Emily Sinkins

Legal leaders on the rise reveal how the OBA Career Accelerator Program, an innovative initiative designed to advance the participation of Black, Indigenous and racialized early- and mid-career lawyers in emerging areas of law, has provided them with the specialized training and unparalleled support to forge new paths and ascend to roles of impact on the cutting edge of the profession.

abstract, colourful image of gender-neutral figures surrounding the head a shoulders of a person with a mish-mash of different facial features superimposed

What Does a Lawyer Look Like? Time to truly embody diversity and inclusion

  • November 16, 2022
  • Ena Chadha and Emmett Rogers

A special achievement marred by a stereotypical statuette sparks a candid conversation between two leading human rights lawyers – one a non-binary, trans person and the other a first-generation immigrant South Asian woman – about the rigid expectations and barriers related to gender identity that persist in the legal profession, and what we can do to create space for diverse people while better serving the trans community.

The Honourable Rosalie Abella and the Honourable Mahmud Jamal

Supreme Esteem: Twin tributes that really do justice

  • June 01, 2022
  • The Honourable Rosalie Abella and The Honourable Mahmud Jamal

The OBA’s Supreme Evening brought together admiring members of the bench and bar to pay tribute to The Honourable Rosalie Abella and The Honourable Mahmud Jamal and celebrate “a passing of a precious baton from safe, strong hands to safe, strong hands.” The gala’s highlight were the remarks from the guests of honour, whose praise for each other conveyed respect, kinship, humour, and genuine affection – excerpts from which they have kindly shared.

An illustration of a group of racially diverse people gathered together with lines radiating from them like ideas and calls for action

Beyond Black History Month: Basic principles for life

  • February 26, 2022
  • Jacqueline Beckles

We can apply principles of gathering with purpose and collective brainstorming, and a philosophy of “I am because we are,” to continue to raise awareness and call for action, break barriers and celebrate Black excellence, and lift as we climb and light the way for others every day.

Side image of a person's upper torso and neck, featuring many black ink tattoos, the most prominent of which is the words "They/Them" in cursive writing

What’s in a Pronoun? Two human rights tribunals find that misgendering in the workplace amounts to discrimination in employment

  • December 12, 2021
  • Giovanna Di Sauro (she/her), Tamara J. Sylvester (one/they/them) and Nicky Kim (she/her)

After summarizing two recent Human Rights Tribunal decisions that, for the first time, considered the issue of misgendering of gender non-conforming employees in the workplace as well as their employers' failure to address their complaints of discrimination seriously or at all, the authors highlight key findings and provide practical tips for organizations in light of these decisions.