Leading the Way: Canadian Women in the Law

"...the book succeeds in its purpose, offering inspiration to new women lawyers in all areas and practices not to be limited, and to continue to strive for change and improvements, for themselves and for other women."

Women lawyers have made incredible strides over the past 125 years: while once women required special permission to become even student members of the Law Society of Upper Canada, today they hold esteemed positions, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. In Leading the Way: Canadian Women in the Law, authors Julie Soloway and Emma Costante document this inspiring journey through a compilation of biographies of 50 Canadian women whose tenacity challenged the status quo and effected real change for women in the legal profession.

Women who made a difference
Organized into five distinct temporal waves, this book takes a close look at the women who paved the way for new generations in the legal profession:

• The first chapter introduces the reader to the true torchbearers, those women who were the first to push the boundaries: the first to attend law school, to be called to the bar and to argue before the Supreme Court of Canada
• The second chapter focuses on the 1970s, a time of growing recognition of women as individuals with distinct needs that vary according to their socio-economic status and communities
• The third chapter examines the 1980s as a decade when women sought and won constitutional protection for their rights
• The fourth chapter considers the 1990s – an era when women staked their claim at the top of the corporate ladder and in law firms across the country
• The fifth chapter discusses the new millennium as a time when women in law have grappled with the issue of balance, while developing strategies for juggling families, community involvement and their professional lives

Valuable insight
Leading the Way: Canadian Women in the Law provides a glimpse into the lives of renowned female lawyers over the past century and the factors that drove them to be agents of social change. In addition to being essential and inspirational reading for Canadian lawyers and law students, this book will be a welcome addition to any personal or professional library and a cornerstone for future scholarly work on the topic.