Advocacy Matters - Spring 2024
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CHAIR CHAT<br />
Chair Chat<br />
Steven G. Frankel (he/him),<br />
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP<br />
This issue of <strong>Advocacy</strong> <strong>Matters</strong> is bittersweet<br />
for me because it’s my last issue as Chair of<br />
MASC, before I step off of MASC for good. This<br />
term has really zipped by even faster than I expected<br />
it would. I’m incredibly proud of what<br />
we’ve accomplished together with our Winter<br />
Summit (The Big Chill) in Ottawa as the highlight<br />
of the past 12 months. More than that,<br />
though, I feel privileged to have been involved<br />
with this terrific Committee for the past six<br />
years and to have met so many amazing people<br />
and advocates along the way.<br />
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but through my<br />
work on MASC it’s become clear to me just how<br />
vital mid-career lawyers like us are to the present<br />
and future of the profession. We’re senior<br />
enough to have some influence but we still have<br />
plenty of skin in the game because our best<br />
years are ahead of us. And boy, do we care. Not<br />
just about the administration of justice and the<br />
art of advocacy, but also about our role in the<br />
system, about one another as individuals, and<br />
about ensuring that talented young advocates<br />
have the support systems around them to be<br />
able to excel in the profession.<br />
All of this is reflected in the articles featured in<br />
this jam-packed issue of <strong>Advocacy</strong> <strong>Matters</strong>. Joe<br />
Thorne and Jeff Van Bakel deliver Part II of their<br />
series on delay in the civil justice system, this<br />
time focussing on potential long-term solutions.<br />
Jeff and Wade Poziomka have also contributed<br />
a piece on the dissolution of law firms, in the<br />
wake of Minden Gross’ decision to wind down<br />
its operations. Megan Keenberg and Lisa Marie<br />
Buccella have, individually and together, written<br />
three articles that deal with the important<br />
issues of mentor burnout, stress management<br />
and active listening. Mana Khami corralled the<br />
Chairs responsible for staging the Big Chill in a<br />
roundtable discussion about the highlights of<br />
our inaugural Winter Summit and what to expect<br />
for future years with this conference. Eric<br />
Morgan contributed a piece sharing perspectives<br />
from Canadian lawyers who work at major<br />
international firms, and Jordan Glick provided a<br />
fresh look at the age-old (four-year-old?) backto-the-office<br />
versus work-from-home debate.<br />
With that, I will say farewell but not goodbye. I’ll<br />
be at TAS’ End of Term Dinner on June 26, <strong>2024</strong>,<br />
and I hope everyone reading this will join me<br />
there. Please come say hi, whether you know me<br />
or not. I also plan to stay involved in the work<br />
of The Advocates’ Society going forward. In the<br />
meantime, I know I leave the stewardship of this<br />
Committee in excellent hands under the leadership<br />
of our next Chair, Sonu Dhanju-Dhillon.<br />
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