There are many reasons for lawyers and litigators to consider mediation as a career move. And there are born mediators who may not have a professional legal background at all. Our goal in this episode is twofold: to make the case for mediation as a viable alternative to our over-burdened court system and to explore the role mediation plays in peace-, community-, and capacity- building on both the local and global scale. Pro-tip for seasoned professionals: mediation can also provide some relief for the feeling of burnout that can come from years of working in the adversarial system. Julia welco ..read more

Trail-blazing penny droppers. Julia welcomes two iconic figures from within the CBA and the legal profession: barbara findlay KC and Douglas Elliott. Gay lawyers from when there were no gay lawyers. They co-founded SOGIC, now SAGDA, and are partly responsible for many of the rights the 2SLGBTQIA+ community has achieved over the last forty years. To quote barbara: "what was gained in a generation could easily be lost in a generation". And Douglas wrote: "we are experiencing a terrible backlash right now where the very concept of human rights is under attack and ‘DEI” is under sustained attack ..read more

Criminal defense attorneys Tony Paisana and Tyler Schnare from the CBA Criminal Justice Section geek out with Julia about the recently updated CBA Collateral Consequences Toolkit. For clients, it presents a comprehensive overview in fairly plain language about the fall-out of a criminal conviction. For lawyers, to quote Tony, "there are serious consequences to not advising of the consequences...". This updated resource aims to help lawyers, clients, and judges gain a better understanding of the impact of criminal convictions on offenders before the courts. The consequences can have an impact o ..read more

A discussion about what is actually behind the words, equity, diversity and inclusion.  Our final episode with original CBA Task Force on Gender Equality members, Justice Sophie Bourque, Patricia Blocksom, Daphne Dumont and principal author Melina Buckley and a diverse cross-section of women lawyers working in the profession today on how much progress has been made on gender equality since 1993.  And the next thirty years? “When will the profession get to a place where we can look back and say, we got there!?” -Sameera Sereda Link to the full report: touchstonesForChange.pdf (cb ..read more

To quote Patricia Blocksom: “Equality is a robust concept but a fragile reality.” Fortunately lawyers are good at remaining constantly vigilant and feminism is nothing to be afraid of, quite the opposite: by the end of this our second episode on the Touchstones Report, you will be very grateful you have chosen to let these wonderful women, these wonderful feminists, into your life for a while. Thanks for listening, reach out to us anytime at podcasts@cba.org!  Touchstones Report Executive Summary: The CBA’s Task Force on Gender Equality’s groundbreaking 1993 Report titled “Touchstones for ..read more

Excerpts from our CBA Podcasts cross channel series on Mental Health in the Legal Profession. With Glen Hickerson from the CBA well-being subcommittee, former Chief Justice  of Ontario George Strathy, Sania Chaudhry, Yves Faguy, editor of the CBA National Magazine, Jason Ward, former CBA President, Stephen Rothstein, the Hon. Justice Mahmud Jamal, the Hon. Justice Michele Hollins of King's Bench Alberta, and the author of the Report on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada from the university of Sherbrooke, Dr. Nathalie Cadieux. Hosted by Julia Tétrault-Pr ..read more

In anticipation of our forthcoming mini-series marking the 30th anniversary of the Touchstones Report, celebrating what has been achieved in the last three decades while remaining vigilant and tenacious in the pursuit of true equity, diversity, and inclusion in the legal profession, here is Julia's complete conversation with OBA President Kelly McDermott. Both as senior in-house counsel who leads labour negotiations and litigation at the Regional Municipality of Durham and as a single mom with an episodic disability and primary caregiver to a person on the autism spectrum, Kelly knows about la ..read more

Safeguarding the rule of law and the legal profession. Julia Tetrault-Provencher welcomes John Stefaniuk K.C. The CBA President speaks about growing up in Manitoba, the war in Ukraine, his long association with the CBA, and its role in safeguarding the rule of law both at home and abroad. Their discussion also touches on the role the CBA can, and does, play in promoting and improving inclusion in the legal profession and the responsibility to give back that comes with privilege.  ..read more

The Violence Link in Practice *Content warning: This episode discusses serious and potentially triggering subjects, including family violence and animal abuse, as well as the recounting of real-life events. A new Report prepared for Humane Canada with funding from the Department of Justice Canada, The Violence Link in Practice is an empirical analysis of the implications of the Violence Link for Family Justice Professionals. But what exactly is the Violence Link? Broadly, it describes the intersection between animal abuse and a litany of violent criminal offences from bestiality, child ..read more

SAGDA - The Sexual and Gender Diversity Alliance, formerly known as SOGIC. We learn a bit about the history of SOGIC: (spoiler alert, it started out as a very well protected email list) and a bit about the everyday business of SAGDA: (spoiler alert: you will be encouraged to join!). From being a good ally to mentorship to opportunity, this episode also features a frank discussion on pride and the need to remain vigilant given a backdrop of rising hate. Julia welcomes lawyers Chris Ellis and Hossein Moghtaderi from SAGDA. Canadian Bar Association - Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Communi ..read more