BarTalk August 2001
Volume 13, Number 4

A member reviews the latest President’s Forum

by Cheryl Stephens

Margaret Ostrowski QC hosted “Creating Success: A Symposium for Women in Law”, a President’s Forum, on June 21 in Vancouver. The Forum sold-out early and proved to be a success. Referring to the recent ABA Report “Unfinished Agenda: Women and the Legal Profession” she said the time has long past for implementation of various reports on the subject of women in law. Ms. Ostrowski pointed out that of the 33 largest firms in BC, only three have women as managing partners. She called upon the participants to step up to leadership in their firms and in the professional bodies, saying, “We can’t wait 10, 20, or 30 more years for women’s advancement.” She said that it is well worth the effort required to reach higher levels of management or to be elected in the professional bodies or to government in order to gain a voice.

How do you define success?
Barbara Charlie, an Elder from the Vancouver Aboriginal Center, opened and closed the symposium referring to the higher purpose and context that each of us draws upon in charting our path and measuring our successes.

The Honourable Lynn Smith, of the BC Supreme Court, emphasized this theme. Recounting the history of women in the legal system and the legal profession, she reminded us that achieving equality is a process, not an event. Madame Justice Smith said that success has to be defined by one’s own standards. Advice from Justice Heather Holmes included: Know why you have made the choices you have made – and maintain your own perspective on success.

Sharon McNeil, Centre for International Indigenous Legal Studies, spoke of the importance of defining your personal mission in life. Her own goals are not economic but helping her people to overcome their circumstances and that is how she will measure her success. Janice Margolis found that work as a promoter of philanthropy gave her career satisfaction and a feeling of success with a non-monetary goal.

Speaker Ann Shields asked the important question, “Why strive for a position of success?” And her answers were: challenging work is satisfying; the world deserves the contributions women can make; and you can be successful on your own terms.

Madam Justice Smith advised that achieving success on our own terms requires:

• Setting our own goals and objectives;

• Showing courage and taking risks;

• Trusting your own judgement and intuition;

• Supporting and accepting others; having the support of family and friends;

• Working with others with the same goals; and

• Having a mentor and becoming a mentor.

Perhaps most significant was her advice to build-up your stamina and see to your own self-care, including looking after your spiritual health and well-being. Jean Whittow, Michelle Stanford and Mary Ann Booth spoke of success as finding balance in life so that they can enjoy their families and their work.

In closing, the emphasis was again on defining success in your own terms. April Katz said, “The measure of success is achieving what you want to do. Success is very personal.”

To that end, I encourage women to get involved in the CBA to represent the interests of women lawyers and to hone your leadership skills.

Special thanks to Ellen Schlesinger and Renée Hoggard for their contribution to this article.

This article was published in the August 2001 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.