The Every Lawyer

Robert Harvie and Donna Purcell, two experienced lawyers share their expertise in remote work. Get some tips on virtual firms and managing change. Robert Harvie has been a Divorce and Family Lawyer in Lethbridge and Southern Alberta for over 30 years. His practice has a special emphasis on complex matrimonial property division, including corporate interests, family trusts, and farm divorce. Donna...

Conversations with the President: The state of the profession, Ep 5: Vivene meets with Erin Cowling and Kim Gale to discuss the rejection of the traditional law firm model, billable hours and entrepreneurship. How are they dealing with the expectations placed on young lawyers? Erin Cowling founded Flex Legal in 2015, a network of experienced freelance litigators providing outsourced legal services...

In this episode, we hear the testimonies of two interns of The Young Lawyers International Program (YLIP). Devon Black works in Georgetown, Guyana with the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination. Navdeep Kaur works in Hanoi, Vietnam with UNICEF. To learn more and to apply to the program, visit the Young Lawyers International Program website. Listen to last year's episodes:   From Packin...

Conversations With The President: The state of the profession, Ep 4: Less than 70 years ago, people wanting to enter the common law legal profession in Canada took some courses, but mostly they learned to do by doing, through years of apprenticeship to senior lawyers. Today we’ll talk to two law school deans, Ian Holloway and Camille Cameron about who should be providing on-the-job training. Ian H...

It’s the topic on everyone’s mind – what do you do in a pandemic. And for employment lawyers specifically – how do you protect the workplace? What type of legislation are we dealing with when it comes to responding to pandemics? Learn more with guest Sheila Osborne-Brown.  Sheila Osborne-Brown co-authored the CBA’s “Pandemics and the Workplace ” resource for lawyers. It helps lawyers advise client...

Lawyers suffer from depression more than any other profession. We’re fortunate to be talking to two guests about this issue – Doron Gold and Glen Hickerson. Did you know that lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to be depressed than non-lawyers who share their same socio-demographic traits. Both our guests were speakers in the wellness conference of April 2019. Doron Gold is a former lawyer and curre...

Conversations With The President: The state of the profession, Ep 3: There’s a lot of talk about the articling crisis in Canada – law students are having a hard time finding articling positions, and those who do complete their articles can’t always get a job afterward. Ronit Dinovitzer has been studying what law grads in Canada and the U.S. do once they’ve passed the bar. When Ryerson’s law school...

Conversations With The President: The state of the profession, Ep 2: Vivene meets Jordan Furlong and Omar Ha-Redeye to look at how the legal profession is changing due to societal, economic and technology forces and what this means for lawyers in Canada. In this inaugural episode, Vivene talks about how the legal marketplace changed after the economic crash of 2008, the lawyer development system,...

Law school can be incredibly rewarding and incredibly stressful. On today’s episode we’re rounding up advice from past guests on their suggestions on how to manage it all. Thank you to all our past guests for their thoughtful advice and encouragements. You can hear their appearances here: You can hear Jason Cooke’s interview about How to sit on a board while managing a full-time practice  You can...

We are chatting with Vivene Salmon, the new Canadian Bar Association President and the first person of colour to take on the role. We discuss why she thinks intergenerational dialogue between lawyers is crucial to developing the profession and her own podcast series, Conversations with the President. Visit www.cba.org/dispatches to learn more about CBA President and his goals. To contact us (pleas...

We explore the good, the bad and the ugly – or at least the ugly tears – when it comes to articling across Canada. Articling is a rewarding and fulfilling learning opportunity, which provides mentorship and guidance into the profession – at its best. But at its worse – it can subject vulnerable young students to harassment and discrimination. Today's guests are Preston Parsons and Charlene Scheffe...

Almost half of all Canadians will experience a legal problem over the course of a three-year period. It’s a startling statistic – and one we’re going to unpack on today’s episode focusing on legal aid across the country. So, what can be done about the lack of stable, sustainable funding? Our guest today, lawyer John Gillis , is going to talk about the CBA’s #LegalAidMatters campaign which launched...

The CBA has published a toolkit for lawyers who travel with electronic devices containing their clients' information. Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, founder of LexSage, counsels us on what to do when a custom’s officer asks us to do something that would breach our duty of confidentiality. Cyndee Todgham Cherniak is the founding lawyer of LexSage, a boutique international trade law and sales tax firm in...

Conversations With The President: Raising The Bar on Inclusion, Ep 8: Last episode of Conversations with the President: Raising the Bar on Inclusion. Ray shares some of his favourite moments from this past year. From LGBTQ2S+ lawyers, to ex-Prime Minister, to talking with a lawyer living with a disabilities. Ray has shared and learned so much from a cross-section of lawyers from around the country...

Conversations With The President: Raising The Bar on Inclusion, Ep 7: Ray meets with Sacha de Klerk , Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Canada, Norton Rose Fulbright. They talk inclusion initiatives, promoting diversity and the need for substantive data. Sacha has a degree from the IMM School of Marketing in South Africa. Nine years ago she joined Norton Rose Fulbright in London, where she led the...

Fourth and final episode in our series exploring the Young Lawyer International Program. After exploring the world, it's time to come back home. We meet with Laura MacLean who just came back from her placement 3 months ago and Mathieu Delorme who did the program 7 years ago, let's see what they are up to now. The first stop is Laura MacLean in Ottawa. She’s currently a staff lawyer at La Clinique...

This episode is the third in our series exploring the Young Lawyer International Program (CLick here to listen to part 2 ). Our topic today is what happens when things go wrong. We’ll talk to legal interns around the world about the funny and the scary moments when our carefully laid plans go awry… overseas. First stop: Sheru Abdulhusein , in Nairobi, Kenya Next stop: Ademofe Oye-Adeniran, in Durb...

Conversations With The President: Raising The Bar on Inclusion, Ep 6: Ray meets with Lorin McDonald , a lawyer from Toronto who was born with profound hearing loss in both ears. They discuss her journey through law school, the Accessible Canada Act (passed on May 29) and more! When we think about diversity, we tend to think about race, sexual orientation and gender identity, but there are other ty...

The CBA has published a toolkit for lawyers and asylum-seekers alike, breaking down the major legal processes that go into making refugee claims, as well as navigating the complex legal systems involved. Jacqueline Bonisteel , associate with Corporate Immigration Law Firm, is with us today to talk through how to use this toolkit. She is also the former coordinator of the National Immigration Law S...

Conversations With The President: Raising The Bar on Inclusion, Ep 5: Part 2 with Kim Campbell : In this episode Ray talks social media, her career in law and politics and how she deals with it all. Kim Campbell has a lot of Canadian firsts after her name. First female justice minister. First and only female defence minister. The first prime minister to be born in British Columbia and so far the o...

This episode is our second in a series exploring the Young Lawyer International Program (Click here to listen to part 1 ). And today we’ll talk to interns around the world about what it’s like to work overseas, from the culture shock to the challenges of doing law in foreign jurisdiction. First stop: Vietnam with Shima Heidari . Next stop: Myanmar with Kathryn Fox . Last stop : Kyrgyzstan with Sta...

Conversations With The President: Raising The Bar on Inclusion, Ep 5: Part 1: In this episode Ray will be talking with Anne McLellan, counsel with Bennett Jones in Edmonton, who has risen to the top of Canada’s federal political spectrum and lives to tell the tale. Anne McLellan earned her bachelor’s and law degrees at Dalhousie, then went on to earn a Master of Laws at King’s College London. She...

Today we are packing up, taking off and settling in! This is the first episode of a four part series where we explore the Young Lawyers International Program, funded by Global Affairs Canada. It’s a CBA internship initiative located in 10 different countries giving young lawyers international legal opportunities in law reform, human rights and access to justice. First stop: Serbia, with Parveen Pa...

Conversations With The President: Raising The Bar on Inclusion, Ep 4: In this episode, Ray meets Charlene Theodore , 2nd Vice-President of the Ontario Bar Association, who is the first black woman to occupy this position. He also meets with David A Curry, Crown Attorney in Digby, Nova Scotia, to discuss his experience as a black and Mi’kmaq lawyer. Charlene and David are young lawyers hoping to ch...

Thinking about joining a board of directors? Looking for an opportunity to give back and also develop professionally? Today’s episode breaks down everything you need to know. We’ve assembled an entire panel to answer your questions. Our guests on this episode are all members of the Canadian Bar Association’s board of directors. Twila Reid , Jason Cooke and Jeff Howe are here to tell us the risks a...