Advocacy-Matters-Summer-2023

with relevant stakeholders, including the courts, professional regulators, and the public, to grapple with
the issues it presents. We will need to consider and contain the risks, but should not lose the opportunity
to benefit from the efficiencies in practice and in the administration of the court system that AI could
offer. Our policy work and educational programs will be infused with technology issues.
Finally, a focus on the future means paving a path for a properly-functioning justice system. Through
our policy work, the Society will continue to work on access to justice issues and on improving the system
for future advocates’ and litigants. One priority will be to work on the pervasive issue of civil delay
following our call to governments, the courts, the bar, and all stakeholders in the justice system to take
immediate and concerted action to solve the problem of delay in the civil and family justice system
(“Delay No Longer. The Time to Act Is Now”).
Q. What role do you see MASC members playing in the work of the society?
A. MASC members play a crucial role in the Society’s work. This year, MASC will be developing and
launching an important new education and collegiality event for the MASC demographic—Winter Summit:
The Big Chill Ottawa. MASC members will, as usual, be serving on several of the Society’s working
committees, where you have made some of the most meaningful contributions to our policy work, to
expanding our membership, and to our education programs. MASC members are really on the front
line in many ways. You provide critical skills and knowledge. You have expertise in and a facility with
technology used in litigation that some of our more senior demographics may not. You have had
greater exposure to and developed greater expertise in issues of EDI. You are hitting your stride in
practice and first-chairing litigation. You are transitioning into senior members of the profession and
building profile. You are stepping into leadership roles. Many of you have started your own firms. You
are developing business. Many of you have family obligations—children or aging parents or both. It is
the most demanding time of your career, and the MASC perspectives and voices are essential for the
Society to have a clear view of current issues and needs, and the future of the profession.
am incredibly proud to be associated with this organization.
For its members, I would like the Society, with its focus on best-in-class advocacy skills training,
policy work, and opportunities for collegiality, to be an essential part of every Canadian advocate’s
professional trajectory. For the profession in general, I would like for the Society to maintain a stellar
reputation for excellence in each of these areas and to serve as the respected voice of advocates in
Canada on important issues affecting our justice system.
Q. What are your thoughts on the future of the profession?
A. I see a snapshot of our future in our MASC and YASC membership, so I am very optimistic! But we
cannot take what we have for granted. The profession will need to remain committed to continuously
improving our justice system, defending judicial independence, upholding the rule of law, and respecting
and protecting our rights and freedoms. If we can deliver on that commitment, the future will be
bright. I also see evolving technology, deployed thoughtfully and appropriately, as an aid and not a
threat to advocates.Technology will not replace effective oral advocacy, persuasiveness, judgment, ethics,
or human connection.
Q. What does the advocates society mean to you? What do you want it to mean for TAS
members and the profession generally?
A. When I first joined, the Society was instrumental in connecting me to a community of litigators outside
of my firm, as I was practising in New York during the years in which people tend to develop their
local networks. I found opportunities through teaching litigation skills and participating in education
programs.
My involvement has steadily increased over my 17 years of membership, so I now have a far better
understanding of everything the Society does. It was not initially clear to me that I was the type of member
the Society had in mind. I now know that the Society is for all advocates, at every career stage, who
are committed to the practice, focused on achieving excellence in advocacy, interested in protecting
and improving our justice system, and who want to be part of an inclusive and collegial community. I
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