Day: November 26, 2014

Julia Shin Doi named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women
November 26, 2014

Women’s Executive Network celebrates Julia Shin Doi as a national female achiever. Ryerson’s General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors, Julia Shin Doi, has been named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN).

The 12th annual list of 100 women was made public today, and celebrates women who are proven achievers in the private, public and not-for-public sectors in 2014. All of the winners will be honoured at an awards gala on Thursday.

The award theme this year is ‘timeless,’ which WXN considers fitting when describing bold leadership – “Canada’s strong, fearless, tenacious female leaders who stop at nothing to push boundaries within their careers, among their peers, and for their communities.”

As a founder and past president of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, and through a range of other professional and community activities, Shin Doi has been active in promoting diversity and continuing legal education, building professional networks and representing the university.

“I am thrilled to be part of the WXN Top 100 and especially honoured to have been nominated by the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers and colleagues in the legal community.

“Ryerson has given me the opportunity to break down stereotypes visibly through my executive role as General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors. I have enjoyed working on many key strategic, innovative projects at the university including the establishment of Ryerson Futures, the collaboration with the Bombay Stock Exchange, the founding of the OneEleven incubator and shaping the Law Practice Program. I have also enjoyed the many opportunities that I have had over the years to work with students, teach and write about law, do community legal work and lead professional associations. It’s wonderful that WXN celebrates and recognizes the achievements of women. Ryerson’s Diversity Institute has shown that there are still many professional barriers for women and visible minorities,” she says.

Shin Doi recently shared the story of her own journey as a human book during Ryerson’s International Women’s Day celebrations. She immigrated to Canada with her parents at the age of 2, living in Regent Park. The Korean-Canadian community in Toronto became her extended family, nurturing her and developing her leadership skills. Throughout her career, she has been keen to build networks to support others and share her passion for law and education.

At the university, Shin Doi continues to build a community that is supportive of women professionals and their goals. She worked with the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to develop a diversity questionnaire for external law firms. “We have excellent and meaningful work at the university and it is important to ensure that diverse professionals have the opportunity to engage with our amazing community,” says Shin Doi. She is proud of her talented, expert team of women professionals who advise on law, governance, privacy, information system security and records management. She is excited that her team will train and mentor the next generation of lawyers through Ryerson’s Law Practice Program. In addition to teaching in the program, Shin Doi established the Corporate Counsel Advisory Board, bringing together legal leaders to support the placement and training of candidates.

Shin Doi is chair of the Ontario Chapter and an executive member of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, which represents thousands of corporate counsel nationally. She is a founding member of the Korean Canadian Lawyers Association and the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers. This past year, she co-founded the Roundtable of Diversity Associations which unites numerous diverse professional associations, and founded the Women’s General Counsel Group of the Women’s Law Association of Ontario to support senior women executives. Shin Doi serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Universities Reciprocal Insurance Exchange, Ryerson Futures Inc., the Arirang Age Friendly Community Centre and is a member of the Korean Women’s International Network, Toronto Chapter. She was recognized in 2010 by The Law Society of Upper Canada’s Diversifying the Bar: Lawyers Make History project as an early and exceptional lawyer from a diverse community, and by the Korean Canadian Leadership Development committee as a community leader.

Shin Doi joined Ryerson in 2011 and was formerly an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. She is the past director of the Osgoode Business Clinic, past instructor of Legal Drafting, past assistant director of the LLM in Business Law and past instructor of Osgoode Professional Development’s Commercial Legal Drafting Workshop. Shin Doi has also taught legal seminars for Ryerson University’s Law Centre and advises Ryerson’s Law Practice Program. She was recently a reviewer for the new Certified In-House Counsel-Canada designation offered by the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association and University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Shin Doi obtained her BA with distinction from the University of Toronto, her JD and LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School, was admitted to the Bar in Ontario in 1994, and is a registered trademark agent.

Liberal Justice Critic Meets with Legal Associations in Toronto to Discuss Diversity in the Canadian Judiciary (October 16, 2014)

Liberal Justice Critic, Sean Casey, MP Arnold Chan and Liberal Candidate, Gary Anandasangaree participated in a roundtable with prominent legal associations in Toronto to discuss concerns with the federal judicial appointments process.

The roundtable, organized by the South Asian Bar Association of Toronto (SABA), featured members of the executive of SABA, the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL), the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) and the Women’s Law Association of Ontario (WLAO).  “This roundtable was a great opportunity to hear from the legal community about the issue of diversity in Federal judicial appointments” said Mr. Casey. “I am grateful to SABA for facilitating an opportunity for us to discuss the role of the Federal Government in developing a judiciary and justice system that truly reflects the face of Canada”.

“Canada’s identity and strength are premised on its rich diversity; yet, sadly our judiciary is neither representative nor reflective of this.  Lack of gender and racial diversity in the Canadian judiciary is of equal concern to all Canadians, not just under-represented communities.  It is encouraging to see the Liberal Party take note of this critically important issue” said Jayashree Goswami, President of SABA.

Gary Anandasanagree, Liberal Candidate for Scarborough Rouge Park, a lawyer and a past SABA award recipient spoke of the need to break open barriers within our legal bodies and law societies to marshal broader support for the cause of diversity. “The election of minority lawyers such as newly elected MP Arnold Chan and other racialized members of the bar seeking public office is a step in the right direction” added Anandasangaree.

Lai-King Hum, President of FACL said, “[J]udicial diversity is fundamentally an issue of access to justice and public confidence in the administration of justice.  The roundtable discussion with Mr. Casey and Mr. Chan laid important groundwork.  FACL had written to the Minister of Justice, Peter MacKay, requesting a similar meeting.  Rather than engage with FACL, he declined because of his “busy schedule”.”

“Racialized candidates who are both qualified and meritorious exist and are applying but are not being selected” said Arleen Huggins, President of CABL.  “The federal government would know this if the process mandated keeping statistics at all stages of the process. CABL has attempted to discuss these issues in person with the federal Minister of Justice to no avail.  We are pleased that Mr. Casey and Mr. Chan see the need for in person dialogue and action.”

Mr. Chan concluded the roundtable by sharing the Liberal Party’s disappointment at the Federal Conservative Government’s position on the lack of diversity on federal courts.  He emphasized his team’s understanding that lack of diversity on the bench was a pressing issue for all members of the bar, and not only racialized members.  He spoke about the need for greater transparency and pledged to continue the conversation with various stakeholders.

Reposted from: http://arnoldchan.liberal.ca/blog/liberal-justice-critic-meets-with-legal-associations-in-toronto-to-discuss-diversity-in-the-canadian-judiciary/

FACL has been a consistent voice against the accreditation of the proposed law school at Trinity Western University (TWU) in British Columbia due to TWU’s discriminatory policies towards LGBTQ students.  TWU was originally successful in obtaining accreditation from the Law Society of British Columbia, which has since been rescinded.

FACL wrote to the Honourable Amrik Vik, Minister of Advanced Education in British Columbia, to similarly request that the Ministry reverse approval of TWU’s law degrees.

To read FACL’s complete letter to Minister Amrik Vik, CLICK HERE.

To read FACL’s previous statements on this issue, please visit the section “FACL Press Releases and Submissions” on our Media page.