Law Times

PAGE 4 NEWS May 3, 2010 • Law TiMes he face of the legal pro- fession is changing, but some of the old problems facing women and visible minor- ity groups persist, according to a report on diversity for the Law Society of Upper Canada. Th e report, "Racialization and Gender of Lawyers in On- tario" by York University soci- ology professor Michael Orn- stein, was presented to benchers at Convocation late last month. Among the fi ndings, it shows women and visible minorities make up a larger percentage of lawyers than ever. Ornstein used census data from 2006 and found that women now make up almost 60 per cent of lawyers between the ages of 25 and 34 and 38 per cent of all lawyers in On- tario. Visible minorities com- prise 11.5 per cent of Ontario's lawyers, up from 9.2 per cent Legal profession sees rise in racial, gender diversity T BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times in 2001. Th at falls well short of their representation in Ontario at large, where they account for 23 per cent of the popula- tion. However, in the youngest group, that number increases to 20 per cent. Th ose numbers are expected to increase as the older and predominantly white male cohort of lawyers retires. "While we are pleased to see the continued increase in the number of women lawyers, we are particularly happy to see the broadening diversity of those entering the profession," Josée Bouchard, equity adviser at the LSUC, said in a statement. However, Joy Casey, a litiga- tion lawyer and founder of A Call to Action Canada, an orga- nization promoting diversity in the legal profession, says those numbers mask the real problem. "In terms of coming into the profession, it's never been a problem for women. Women have been 50 per cent or more in the law schools for 20 years now. In comparison with other pro- fessions, the numbers show the law still has room to improve, says Jason leung. Th at's not the big issue. Th e big issue is what happens to them once they're in the profession. Visible minorities are coming, and that is great, but there's still a lot of work to be done there." Casey says demographic shifts will inevitably drive up the number of visible minorities but suggests that's not suffi cient to ensure equity in the profession. Th e report showed some minority groups have particu- larly low representation in the profession. For example, there is just one Filipino lawyer for every 2,700 members of that community and one lawyer from the Latin American com- munity for every 1,600 people. Even groups with better rep- resentation, such as the South Asian community with one lawyer for every 600 people, are overshadowed by the one- to-300 ratio for white people. Th e report also found that women and particularly visible minority lawyers earned less than their white male counter- parts, a fi nding Casey says is at the heart of the real issue. "If women have been 50 per cent of the law schools for 20 years, they should be up there at the senior levels and they just aren't," she says. "Visible minori- ties at the partnership level are just completely out of whack and not getting much better. Th ese are things that you can't just sit back and say it will hap- pen naturally because what's happened with women shows us that's not true." Jason Leung, president of the Federation of Asian Cana- dian Lawyers, says he fi nds the report encouraging. "It's good to see it because we don't have that many real statistics on the issue," he says. However, his optimism is tempered by shortcomings highlighted by the report. One statistic that stood out for him compared the law with other professions in Ontario. It showed more than 30 per cent of physi- cians and engineers are visible minorities, compared with 11.5 per cent of lawyers. 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Perfectbound • March 2010 • One time purchase • $86 • P/C 0517010999 On subscription • $81 • P/C 0517140999 • ISSN 1206-694X that there is still a ways to go in getting visible minorities, Asian Canadians included, into the legal profession," he says. Kathryn Hendrikx, vice pres- ident of the Women's Law As- sociation of Ontario, welcomes the report as evidence that the voices of women and visible mi- norities are being heard at the LSUC. She hopes the document will have a similar eff ect to the law society's earlier report on the retention of women in private practice, which she believes was "revolutionary for the law soci- ety" by focusing benchers' minds on problems they might other- wise have ignored. "Th ere has been a real rise of racialized groups which have been formed specifi cally to in- crease the profi le of minority lawyers, and this report I think is the law society responding to that upward pressure from the membership," she says. "Th ey're moving forward." Janet Minor, chairwoman of the LSUC's equity and ab- original issues committee, told Convocation the report never aimed to address the roots of the problems it identifi es. "Th e equity committee will be doing further analysis to de- termine whether there are any steps which should be taken, and those would come back to Convocation," she said. "It may well be the basis for fur- ther examination of the posi- tion of racialized lawyers." But Casey says the problem For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.565.6967 Canada Law Book is a Division of The Cartwright Group Ltd. Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. www.lawtimesnews.com OMSD - 1/2 pg - 4X for LT.indd 1 3/2/10 4:28:50 PM with "further analysis" is that it can sometimes take the place of action, pointing to the Justi- cia project, a three-year think- tank launched by the LSUC to tackle the retention of women. "Saying, 'Let's think about this for three years' is not good enough. We need immediate ac- tion. Studies are important, but you don't study in order to put off action." One of Casey's main ideas is for corporations to use law fi rms that promote diversity and move away from those with poor track records. "I think in- dividuals and companies can move more quickly than the law society and I think there's an obligation on all of us to do something," she says. LT W ith Introduction and H by Michael L. Y istorical Linkages oung, LL.B.

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