Law Times

Law Times • OcTOber 18, 2010 Legge 'the best triage nurse in Osgoode Hall' Legal pioneer dies at 87 BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times to select the portrait of a predecessor to grace the wall of her new office, she really had only one choice: Laura Legge. Legge, 87, who died at home with her W family on Oct. 5 after a battle with cancer, left behind a big legacy of legal achieve- ments and a watchful eye on the treasur- er's chair she once occupied. In 1975, she became the first female bencher of the law society. Then in 1983, her col- leagues at Convocation elevated her to treasurer, which made her the first woman to hold that po- sition. At the time, Pawl- itza was articling after coming fresh out of a law school class filled with women. She now thinks she took Legge's ascen- sion through the ranks of a male-dominated pro- fession for granted. "It wasn't until I be- hen newly elected Law Soci- ety of Upper Canada Treasur- er Laurie Pawlitza was asked systemic challenges she faced as a wom- an in the profession but resolved to persevere and let her quality as a lawyer shine through. "My mom used to say the most important thing is to get on with it. An awful lot of good is done by people who say, 'Cut the nonsense' and bully their way through. You're going to have to work harder, smarter, and better and then you advance on merit." According to her son, Legge read the law reports from cover to cover each week. Even after losing her vision as the dis- ease tightened its grip on her, she had an associate sit and read them to her. That strong work ethic was bred into her since she was young, her son says. Legge was born in came a bencher in 2003 that I realized how un- usual it was to have a fe- male treasurer," Pawlitza says. "Laura was quite an extraordinary woman. She was very strong and very forthright, and I really admired those qualities in her." Knowing Legge's unease with public accolades, Pawlitza wrote her a note to explain the portrait choice and took her out for dinner. Eventually, Legge said, "Oh Laurie, I'd be honoured." Three years earlier, Legge took some persuading to come around to a plan that would name a new law society award for outstanding achievement by a female lawyer in her honour. Susan Elliott was the inaugural winner of the Laura Legge Award in 2008. "Laura didn't view herself as a pioneer but she was one," Elliott says. "Whether she wanted to be or not, she was a true pioneer." Elliott's career followed a strikingly similar trajectory to Legge's. Both be- came benchers while working at small law firms, and Elliott became the law society's second female treasurer in 1995. She says she always made time to hear Legge's views on issues. "Personally, it was important to hear the views of a woman who'd been down the road I was on," she says. Justice Katherine Corrick, who worked with Legge during a 20-year career at the law society before leaving this August to become a judge of the Ontario Superior Court, says she preferred her sex to not be an issue. "She wanted to be seen as a com- petent lawyer and a competent person, not as a woman. She was such a grand lady, always dressed to the nines and ex- tremely accomplished looking. If you didn't know her, you might think of her as a really strong-minded, tough-as-nails kind of lady. But that was a kind of facade. She was a very caring, warm person." Legge's son John, who has worked for the last 25 years at the firm his par- ents started together in the 1950s, says his mother was keenly aware of the Laura Legge became the first female treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1983. 1923 in Courtland, Ont., near Tillsonburg. Her early years during the Depression shaped her outlook on life, ac- cording to her son. At one point, her family helped set up a food bank for local families. At the same time, the death of an infant brother from an infection ignited a passion for nursing. Be- tween 1942 and 1945, she endured an intense training period during which she treated Canadians wounded in the field and won a prize for her work. After using the money to pay for tuition at Osgoode Hall Law School, she was called to the bar in 1948. After working for the government, Legge went on to start up Legge & Leg- ge in the early 1950s with her husband, the late major-general Bruce Legge, where she practised up until her death. "They were remarkable characters, both with a massive case of save-the-world disease," Legge's son says. He says his parents each brought something from their previous careers into their law practices. His father ap- proached legal problems with the prac- ticality and "clear executive analysis of a wartime officer," while his mother was "the best triage nurse in Osgoode Hall." "When you go to a hospital, you want the best diagnostician to tell you what's wrong and what you need. She was very good at figuring out exactly what's wrong at the heart of a legal problem." Legge's son says his mother was a model of discretion who made her views known in a forthright and controlled fashion. But when she came across in- justice, the anger bubbling beneath the surface became apparent. "She had these Welsh-Cornish, double-sized blue eyes, a classic bug-eyed Celt. And when her temper flared, all you could see was eye- balls. She would have made the world's worst poker player." For the last decade Sydney Robins, another former treasurer, sat next to Legge at Convocation. She attended regularly until her illness took hold and appeared as recently as June when Pawl- itza was elected treasurer. "She was a very fine lawyer, an out- standing treasurer, and really a great Ca- nadian," Robins says. "We're indebted to her for the great contribution she made to the governance of the legal pro- fession. We'll miss her very much." LT www.lawtimesnews.com Untitled-1 1 10/8/10 9:22:43 AM NEWS PAGE 3 DEVELOP EFFECTIVE TAX STRATEGIES FOR FOREIGN BUSINESSES CARRYING ON BUSINESS IN CANADA LIMITED-TIME OFFER – SAVE 20%* TAXATION OF FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS ELINORE J. RICHARDSON, STEPHANIE WONG, AND LARISSA V. TKACHENKO Are you aware of how Canadian tax rules impact the financing structures of non-Canadian operations carrying on business in Canada? Taxation of Financing Arrangements explains their effect in a clear and concise manner and recommends strategies and planning arrangements which take these rules into account. 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