Eighteen female lawyers—some with highly successful careers behind them, some just starting out—reflect on their hopes, challenges, triumphs, and, sometimes, regrets.

Creating a Seat at the Table is an edited collection that compiles the experiences of eighteen women as they navigate their way through the male-dominated spaces of law school and the legal profession. Hear from women from different generations and areas of the law—big and small law firms, legal aid, government and politics, the judiciary, in-house positions, administrative agencies. The authors discuss a multitude of issues they’ve faced in their careers, including the compound effects of discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, or disability as well as gender. The stories presented here are inspirational at times and discomforting at others.

Creating a Seat at the Table shows that much has been done to advance women in law but also highlights that much remains to be done.
 

Eighteen female lawyers—some with highly successful careers behind them, some just starting out—reflect on their hopes, challenges, triumphs, and, sometimes, regrets.
 

Foreword
The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, pc, cc

Introduction
Beth Bilson, kc—1977 llb; Leah Howie—2008 llb;
and Brea Lowenberger—2014 jd

It’s Never Too Late to Be Who You Might Have Been
Adrienne Forgeron—2007 jd

VTrying to Change the Course of the Queen Mary with Oars
Alma Wiebe, kc—1978 llb

Instead, I Just Kept Driving
Amelia Lowe-Muller—2015 jd

See Something? Say Something
Breanna Needham—2015 jd

Never Use Other Women for Kindling
Brooke Johnson—2016 jd

The Yin and Yang of Legal Practice
Christine J. Glazer, kc—1980 llb

The Other Side
Courtenay Phillips—2008 llb

You Have to Stand for Something
The Honourable Georgina Jackson—1976 llb

A Humanist View
Gwen J. Gray, kc, ba(USask), llb (USask), llm (Cornell)

I Did a Lot of Reading at the Hockey Rink
Jessie Buydens—2006 llb, 2008 llm

An Unhappy Compromise
Julia Quigley—2017 jd

The Poster
Kate Bilson—2000 llb

Dress for the Weather
Kath Starks—2019 jd

Why Do You Do Anything when You’re Twenty?
Merrilee Rasmussen, kc—1973 llb

Think (Much) Bigger
The Honourable Michele H. Hollins—1992 llb

To the Gentleman’s Credit, He Was Mortified
Nicole Sarauer—2009 jd

Leading the Way: A Call to the Next Generation of Indigenous Women
Senator Yvonne Boyer—1996 llb

Dear Mom
Yvonne Peters—1988 llb

Afterword
Beth Bilson, Leah Howie, and Brea Lowenberger

Acknowledgements