Author: davidspence01

The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL Ontario) congratulates Justice Julia Shin Doi on her appointment to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The judicial appointment of Justice Shin Doi is a significant celebratory occasion for us as we are proud to count her among FACL Ontario’s founding directors.

Justice Shin Doi is a trailblazer for the Asian Canadian bar and has achieved excellence in all of her professional endeavors while being deeply engaged in promoting diversity and inclusion within our legal profession. Prior to her appointment, she was General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors of Toronto Metropolitan University and a Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario. In addition, Justice Shin Doi was an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, teaching legal drafting since 2001. She also taught advanced corporate/commercial law at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, and contract law at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law LL.M. program. She is the co-author of Behind and Beyond Boilerplate: Drafting Commercial Agreements, the leading Canadian text on drafting and understanding boilerplate contract clauses. She was president of the National GC Network and past chair of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (Ontario).

In addition to co-founding FACL Ontario, Justice Shin Doi also co-founded the Korean Canadian Lawyers Association, the Roundtable of Diversity Associations (RODA), the Women General Counsel Canada, and the Korean Legal Clinic.

A highly qualified and diverse bench that reflects the multicultural nature of Canadian society serves to increase public trust and confidence in our judiciary. We look forward to seeing Justice Shin Doi’s contributions to the law in her new role.

FACL Ontario is calling for nominations for Full Member Directors and Student Member Directors, as well as committee applications!

FACL Ontario members interested in serving (1) a two-year term as a Full Member Director or a one-year term as a Student Member Director, and/or (2) a one-year term as a committee member, should send a resume/CV and a Statement of Interest (maximum 500 words) to facl.ontario@facl.ca by 5:00 pm on Friday, April 28, 2023. The subject line of your email should be: “FACL Application – Director/Committee”.

All Directors are expected to commit between 3-6 hours a month (approx.) to FACL matters and to participate in at least one committee. All committee members are expected to commit between 2-4 hours a month (approx.) to committee matters. Director/committee responsibilities may occasionally require more hours in any given month. For more information on the work done by FACL’s committees, please visit our website. 

We are accepting applications to join the following committees: 

• Advocacy and Policy Committee
• Mentorship Committee
• Community Outreach Committee
• GTA North Committee
• ESL / Foreign-Qualified Lawyers Committee
• FACL Ottawa Committee
• Awards Committee
• Podcast Committee
• Women’s Committee
• Events Committee
• Communications Committee
• Governance Committee
• Conference and Gala Committee
• Partnerships Committee

You should only submit one Statement of Interest regardless of how many positions you are interested in (e.g., if you are applying for multiple committees, you would only submit one Statement of Interest). If you are submitting a nomination for a Director position, you should indicate which committee(s) you are interested in and what/how you would contribute. Applicants who are not nominated for Director positions may still be considered for committee positions. 

For all nominees/applicants, if applicable, please use your resume/CV and/or your Statement of Interest to describe: 

• your prior involvement with FACL Ontario; and
• your capabilities in the following skills: coding/WordPress, events planning/promotion, graphic design, and social media.  

All nominees/applicants must be a registered FACL Ontario member at the time of submitting their nomination/application (https://on.facl.ca/become-a-member/):

• A “Full Member” means an individual who self-identifies as Asian Canadian and is a lawyer in good standing with a Law Society in Canada, a judge of a court in Canada or a full-time member of the faculty of a law school in Canada and who, in each case, supports the objects of the Corporation.
• A “Student Member” means an individual who self-identifies as Asian Canadian and is a student-at-law in good standing with a Society in Canada, a student of the faculty of an accredited law school in Canada, or an NCA student, and who, in each case, supports the objects of the Corporation.

For all Director nominees, you must: 

• be, at the date of election of the Member and thereafter remain throughout the term of office, a Full Member (or Student Member as applicable) of [FACL Ontario];
• be at least eighteen (18) years of age, with power under law to enter into Contracts;
• not be an undischarged bankrupt or a mentally incompetent person;
• have been, at the date of the election, a Member for a minimum of twelve (12) months;
• not have, within the five (5) years immediately preceding the date of the election and through the term of the office:
  • been found guilty of professional misconduct by a [Law] Society;
  • been found guilty of, or convicted of, any criminal offence under a statute in Canada; and
  • not be, as of the date of the election and thereafter throughout the term of office, the subject of a notice of referral by a Law Society.

All nominations/applications are expected to abide by the  FACL Ontario Bylaws. By submitting a nomination/application, you agree and attest that you are doing so in accordance with the above criteria. 

Lifetime Achievement: May Cheng

Lawyer of Distinction: Parna Sabet-Stephenson, Gowling WLG

Young Lawyer of the Year: Rosel Kim, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund

Social Justice: Philip Cho, WeirFoulds LLP

Corporate Diversity and Leadership: Canadian Association of LGBTQ2S+ Lawyers

LaForme Scholarship: Helen Wu, U of T

Omatsu Scholarships: Yinzi Gao (U of T), Annie Hu (Osgoode), Deborah Lim (TMU), Filbert Yung (Queen’s)

The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL Ontario) offers its full support for the Good Governance Coalition and their bencher candidates in the upcoming 2023 Bencher elections for the Law Society of Ontario (LSO).

FACL Ontario is committed to promoting equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian Canadian legal professionals and the broader community. We believe these goals can be more fully achieved with strong allies and supporters who similarly recognize the challenge of systemic discrimination in society, and who will work with us in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in the legal profession and beyond. As members of the legal profession, we also expect the highest standards of responsible self-governance, competence, and professionalism from our elected representatives in support of these goals.

The members of the Good Governance Coalition have individually and collectively made meaningful commitments to these key priorities. Their candidates are experienced leaders of our profession and include past presidents of FACL Ontario, Gerald Chan and Julia Shin Doi, the latter also being one of FACL’s founders. FACL Ontario’s board of directors has resolved to support the Good Governance Coalition because we believe this group collectively represents a step forward for FACL Ontario’s members and the legal profession in their service of the public interest.

We have witnessed the damage caused to our profession when the LSO is used as a vehicle for campaigns opposed to a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive profession. The members of the FullSTOP slate have made it clear that their aim is to strip the LSO of any involvement in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion, despite the Supreme Court of Canada’s determination in Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2018 SCC 33, that the promotion of a diverse bar is squarely within its statutory mandate to act in the public interest.

The LSO is a serious body for self-regulation. It should be focused on removing barriers to practice for its members through good governance and by acknowledging and supporting those who experience systemic discrimination in the profession.

To those who support responsible self-governance, equity, diversity, and inclusion, we urge you to vote for the members of the Good Governance Coalition in this upcoming LSO bencher election. All StopSOP slate candidates were successful in 2019, but they failed to run a sufficient number of candidates to establish a majority at convocation. If the rebranded FullSTOP slate is successful in next month’s elections, many of the advances achieved since FACL’s inception in 2007 may be eroded. We urge you to participate in this year’s election and to vote for the entire Good Governance Coalition slate to ensure this does not happen.

The 2023 Bencher Election will take place from April 19-28, 2023. FACL encourages all our members to review the Good Governance Coalition candidates and policy positions to better understand why your vote is critical to ensuring a better LSO and good governance for all. www.goodgovernancecoalition.ca/

Are you considering being or have you been a new parent?  Do you identify as an Asian-Canadian in the Ontario legal profession?  We want to hear from you!  Let us know how becoming a parent has or has not affected your legal career, and what you think can be done to improve the new parenthood experiences of Asian-Canadian legal professionals.  The information gathered from this survey will be shared completely anonymously with upper-level management and hiring teams in the legal profession to help improve the experiences for new parents.  
 
Please consider completing and sharing this survey widely with others.  To thank those who participate, your contact information, if voluntarily provided, will be added to the draw for a year’s worth of David’s Tea ($100 gift certificate)!  All personal information will be completely confidential and answers completely anonymous. Please click here to complete the survey.

The deadline for applying for FACL Awards and Scholarships is this week, and has been extended to Sunday, February 12, at 5:00pm. We look forward to receiving your applications and nominations!

FACL Ontario is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications for the LaForme and Omatsu scholarships. Applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 pm on February 10, 2023. 

FACL Ontario joins the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in mourning over the tragic loss of life in Monterey Park on the eve of Lunar New Year. We are deeply saddened by these tragic events in Monterey Park during a time that should have been dedicated to celebration by AAPI communities. We grieve with the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were harmed and offer our full support and solidarity. FACL Ontario stands together with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and its partner organizations, which released the following joint statement: https://www.napaba.org/page/MontereyPark_jointstatement