Our 2017 Winter Newsletter was sent to all members on January 16, 2017. To catch up on all of our exciting news, view the Newsletter here.
Author: Danica Doucette-Preville
2016 Women in Law Leadership Awards
This year marked the 6th Annual Women in Law Leadership (WILL) Awards and the introduction of the Law Firm Award, presented to the firm operating in Alberta that best fosters an inclusive environment for women lawyers. The inaugural WILL Law Firm Award was present to Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in recognition of the firm’s commitment to advancing women in law.
Highlights from the night
The sold out Awards Dinner, held at Fairmont Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton on November 17, saw over 220 members of the legal community gather to honour this year’s recipients. The Honourable A. Anne McLellan delivered the keynote address and was presented with the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 2016 award recipients are:
- Lifetime Achievement Award – The Honourable A. Anne McLellan, P.C., O.C., A.O.E.
- Law Firm Award – Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
- Leadership in the Profession (Private Practice) – Rose M. Carter, Q.C. (Partner, Bennett Jones)
- Leadership in the Profession (Private Practice) – Heather Treacy, Q.C. (Managing Partner (Calgary), DLA Piper)
- Leadership in the Profession (In-House) – Lara Pella (Assistant General Counsel, Imperial Oil Limited)
- Leadership in the Profession (Government) – Karen Elizabeth Hewitt, Q.C. (Crown Counsel, Alberta Justice, Special Prosecutions Branch)
- Leadership in the Profession (Broader Role) – Jennifer Koshan (Professor, University of Calgary, Faculty of Law)
- Leadership in the Community – Sandy Vander Ziel (Associate, Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP)
- Tomorrow’s Leader – Kerry Lynn Okita (Associate, Bishop & McKenzie LLP)
WILL Awards Recipients
WILL Awards Committee Members
The WILL Awards are co-founded by The Counsel Network and the Association of Women Lawyers and presented annually to women lawyers in Alberta. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram to stay current on everything WILL Awards. Visit us at willawards.ca.
2016 Fall Newsletter
Our 2016 Fall Newsletter was sent to all members on September 26, 2016. To catch up on all of our exciting news, view the Newsletter here.
2016 Spring Celebration
On June 27, the Association of Women Lawyers held its annual Spring Celebration to welcome and celebrate the new female lawyers called to the bar. Provincial Court Judge Joanne Durant provided her words of wisdom at the event and spoke to the audience about the importance of confidence.
Members of the Court of Appeal, Court of Queen’s Bench, Provincial Court, Association of Women Lawyers Board, and members of the legal community were all in attendance.
Judge Durant, Wilma Shim and the 2016 calls to the Bar of Alberta
A special thanks to Osler, Hoskin, & Harcourt LLP for sponsoring the food at the event.
2016 Annual Golf Tournament
This year’s annual AWL Golf Tournament was another roaring success – literally! We had 109 women registered to play and they showed up in full force, notwithstanding the wind and cold.
The organizers of this year’s AWL Golf Tournament are tremendously grateful to everyone who sponsored, participated in and contributed to this year’s tournament, which was held on August 22 at the Carnmoney Golf & Country Club.
Congratulations to this year’s top eight teams (names in photos not necessarily appearing in order):
1st place team: Jocey Bonnycastle, Crystal Deley, Lana G. Lien, Q.C. and Heather M. Bonnycastle, Q.C.
2nd place team: Gwen Randall Q.C., Virginia Engel, Pat Daunais, Q.C. and Rhonda Heffernan
3rd place team: Brynna Hambly, Birkley Doll and Katie Proud
4th place team: Jackie Anderson, Jen Newton, Carla Hunt and Christine Yick
5th place team: Michelle, Colley, Jody Saunders and Melissa Byer
6th place team: Emilie Cox, Rachel Fridhandler, Laura Dunnigan and Heather Richardson
7th place team: Cath Bishop, Jenny Thompson, Kristin Frazer and Lillias Skinner
8th place team: Nicole Mann, Stephanie Bird, Sydney von Vegesack and Brittany Block
Special thanks to this year’s sponsors:
- Carbert Waite
- Calgary Bar Association
- Stikeman Elliott
- De Novo Inc.
- The Counsel Network
- Colliers International
- Harper’s Tire
- Canadian Progress Club
Special thanks to this year’s prize donators:
- Helly Hansen
- Lana Lien
- Colliers International
- Just Right Computer Consulting Inc.
- Leon Frazer & Associates
Here are some additional photos of the day:
Stay tuned for upcoming details about next year’s tournament!
To participate in other fun events with women in the legal community, please register to be an AWL member now.
Soup Sisters, May 2016
On May 8, twenty AWL members and guests spent the evening making more than 160 servings of delicious and nutritious soup for the youth at Cornerstone Youth Centre. Cornerstone Youth Centre is a free, after school drop-in center, for youth in grades 6-9 which provides a safe and caring place to go after school for sports, homework help, hot food, and mentoring.
This was AWL’s 4th year supporting Soup Sisters, a non-profit charitable social enterprise dedicated to providing comfort to women, children and youth through the making, sharing and donating of soup.
Participants pay a registration fee which covers the cost of the supplies used to prepare and deliver the soup. This year we made 4 fantastic varieties of soup, Corn Chowder, Chicken Noodle, Chicken/Rice/Mushroom, and Bean/Spinach/Dill that were delivered fresh to Cornerstone the next day. At the end of the evening we were treated to a light meal of delicious salad, soup and bread. For those unable to attend, copies of the Soup Sisters Cookbooks are available for sale online at http://www.soupsisters.org/cookbook.php or in bookstores everywhere.
Pictures from the event are on the Soup Sisters website at http://www.soupsisters.org/gallery.php and tell a story of great fun and kitchen camaraderie.
Lunch & Learn – ASSIST
On April 13, 2016, we had the pleasure of hosting a Lunch and Learn with Marian De Souza, QC as our speaker. Marian is the Executive Director of Alberta Lawyers’ Assistance Society (Assist), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing confidential help to lawyers, law students, and their immediate families with personal issues.
Marian shed light on the many types of personal issues that affect the legal community such as stress/burnout and anxiety. She highlighted that women tend to suffer more from stress/burnout and concerns over hours worked compared to men. Marian also identified the signs of stress that lawyers demonstrate like drastic changes in personality and avoidance of co-workers.
Marian discussed the resources available to cope with personal issues and achieve success in law, and introduced the concept of “resiliency” – the ability to develop tangible strategies to deal with trauma. Participant analysis found that women were slightly more likely to use the program and had a higher chance of finding the program effective.
Assist provides professional counseling services and peer support for a range of personal issues including stress, anxiety, work-related issues, family problems as well as alcohol, drug and other addictions.
Call Assist’s 24/7 line at 1-877-498-6898 from anywhere in Alberta for on-call support, emergency help or to set up an appointment with a counsellor. The program is voluntary and confidential.
AWL Winter 2016 Newsletter
If you want to know what the AWL was up to in late 2015 and early 2016, here is the AWL 2016 Winter Newsletter: winter-2016-newsletter.
AWL 2015 Newsletters
Want to dig into our past? Check out our 2015 Newsletters!