OBA Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Community PROGRAM | Original Program Date: December 12, 2022

This program will focus on mental health and queer identity, as they intersect with the legal profession.

Earlier this year, former Chief Justice Strathy published “The Litigator and Mental Health”—an influential paper that addresses the importance of mental health in the profession. Unfortunately, mental health issues are widespread in the profession and even traditional markers of success in practice often correlate with signs of depression. The paper is a call to action. The Chief Justice invited law firms to do more to foster an inclusive environment that promotes mental health. He observed the subtle acts of exclusion that can cause 2SLGBTQI+ counsel to experience isolation, uncertainty, and stress, and the problematic ways in which they are individual rather than systemic issues and are therefore left unaddressed.

Join us for an informative panel discussion and Q&A featuring 2SLGBTQI+ practitioners. We encourage allies in the profession to attend. The panelists will discuss the unique challenges that face 2SLGBTQI+ persons in the profession and how legal workplaces and colleagues should respond to those unique challenges.

PROGRAM CHAIR

Chris Grisdale, Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP

PROGRAM SPEAKERS

Beth Beattie, Ministry of the Attorney General, Civil Law Division
Peter Sullivan, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Jessie Gomberg, J.D., LL.M.