Mission & History
Our Mission
FACL is a diverse coalition of Asian Canadian legal professionals who promote equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian Canadian legal professionals and the broader community.
FACL fosters advocacy, community involvement, legal scholarship and professional development.
History
The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) began when several lawyers in the Asian Canadian community met in 2007 to discuss forming a coalition of Asian Canadians in law. Support for this idea grew within the Chinese, Korean and Japanese Canadian Lawyers Associations and from these humble beginnings, FACL was born.
Its founding officers are:
- Justice Avvy Go, Federal Court;
- Justice Maryka Omatsu, Ontario Court of Justice; and
- Professor Julia Shin Doi, General Counsel, Secretary of the Board of Governors and University Privacy Officer at Ryerson University
FACL is a pan-Asian law association. We seek to bridge the barriers between our various communities. Poverty is endemic among visible minority immigrant communities and we strive to work together for the betterment of our communities.
Within the legal profession, there are barriers for Asian Canadians at every level from entry into law school to becoming a senior partner or a judge. We want to address these barriers by encouraging students from under-represented communities to enter law school and to build skills through our mentoring program. FACL would also like to provide opportunities for lawyers to give papers, lectures and to appear before commissions on behalf of FACL.