WiCCD PRESENTS “GRACE UNDER FIRE – HOW TO HANDLE HEAT FROM THE BENCH”

A Panel Discussion With Danielle Robitaille and Anita Szigeti moderated by Maya Shukairy

March 28, 2023 6:00 – 7:30 pm (EST) – Virtual (Zoom)

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN – LINK TO REGISTER IS IN THE PROGRAM FLYER

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18dSglkQd4n6yBQ4g7dpDC1_DfMqzHl7N/view?usp=sharing

THIS EVENT WILL NOT BE RECORDED

This Program was created in response to our members’ experiences of being publicly chastised and worse, in front of their clients, and their experiences of this ill-treatment as rooted minimally in gender or racial biases. See Survey Results in the aggregate here:

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Every practising lawyer has been grilled by Judges on their arguments. That’s to be expected and part of the job – indeed, it is the Judge’s job to probe submissions in order to make a fully informed decision, in an adversarial system.

But more alarming are reports from criminal defence lawyers that some Judges and decision-makers are becoming increasingly ill-tempered and losing patience with us or our work in ways that are inappropriate and harmful to counsel, our clients and ultimately for the administration of justice.

WiCCD’s members have shared their experiences of being yelled at in Court, and being unfairly criticized for their conduct of cases — particularly troubling when this happens in front of clients. Public admonishment of counsel risks clients losing confidence in their champion – their defence lawyer. Unfair public criticism of counsel’s competence or carriage of a matter has a devastating impact on that lawyer’s confidence and could be damaging to their reputation.

Anecdotally and when surveyed, WiCCD members report their perception that defence is targeted more than the Crown and that unfair criticism is levelled more often at women in defence, particularly racialized young women. We suspect that implicit gender and racial biases are at play. The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated existing problems in how Judges treat counsel before them. Accommodations for parents who are care-givers are often not granted, increasing frustration among our members, who are more likely affected by lack of flexibility in this regard.

While every lawyer has a story of being abused by a decision-maker, a story they’ll share in private over drinks, this topic is generally regarded as taboo. Because we don’t talk about it openly, new lawyers have never been given any guidance on how to handle these unpleasant and destructive exchanges in the moment. All counsel would benefit from tips on how to respond professionally and civilly while protecting the record, our clients and our reputations.

Our expert senior counsel panel will explore all these issues and provide guidance, tips and strategies for managing these difficult situations. They will consider how to navigate our seemingly potentially conflicting professional conduct obligations to the tribunal — of candour, civility and respect — while also advocating fiercely for our client, being loyal to them, and all the while ensuring our professional reputation is not unfairly harmed in a public forum.

• WiCCD members will be invited to submit their questions in advance of the session.
• Danielle and Anita will also take questions after their panel discussion.
• To facilitate a candid exchange, we will not record the event.
• Some materials will be provided.
• 1.5 Professionalism CPD accreditation by the LSO is pending

SPEAKER BIOS:

DANIELLE ROBITAILLE

https://hhrllp.ca/danielle-robitaille/

Danielle is the firm’s managing partner. Danielle leads our team of exceptional lawyers, oversees overall operations and steers Henein Hutchison Robitaille strategic direction. In addition to her leadership role, Danielle maintains a busy practice. Danielle’s practice focuses on litigation and investigations with extensive experience in high-profile, complex, and sensitive matters. Danielle’s litigation experience includes defending individuals and corporations charged with criminal, regulatory and disciplinary infractions at trial and on appeal. She has been counsel on a number of high-profile, serious and complex cases. Danielle has appeared at all levels of Court in Ontario and at the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition to her criminal and quasi-criminal defence practice, Danielle also takes on select civil matters.

Danielle is a certified workplace investigator with experience investigating sensitive matters for companies, organizations, and institutions. Frequently these mandates include allegations of wrongdoing related to regulatory non-compliance, fraud, and/or physical and sexual violence. Danielle has significant expertise in the area of police misconduct and culture having served as senior counsel to the Honourable Justice Michael Tulloch on the Independent Police Oversight Review.

Danielle is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including the Lexpert Rising Star award in 2019 and Best Lawyer recognition for Criminal Defence in 2021 and 2022. She is a frequent speaker and educator at The National Criminal Law Conference, Law Society of Ontario, The Advocates’ Society, and Criminal Lawyers’ Association and various law schools across the country. 

Danielle is also the co-author of the cited textbook “Sentencing: Principles and Practice” and the co-host of the legal podcast “The Lawyers Lounge”, published by Emond.

Danielle was born and raised in Kanata, Ontario. She earned her Honours Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto and her LLB at Dalhousie University.

Called to the Ontario bar in 2007

ANITA SZIGETI

Anita Szigeti is the founding lawyer of Anita Szigeti Advocates, a Toronto firm focusing on mental health and the law. Ms. Szigeti graduated from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law in 1990. She is currently co-director (with Dr. Ruby Dhand) of the Mental Health Law course within the Health Law LLM at Osgoode Professional Development, where she obtained a Certificate in Tribunal Adjudication in 2018. Ms. Szigeti has published widely in this area, including as co-author of several textbooks on mental health law across Canada. These include the LexisNexis publications: Law and Mental Health in Canada: Cases and Materials (2023), Halsbury’s on Mental Health Law (2023), A Guide to Consent and Capacity Law in Ontario (2023), and A Guide to Mental Disorder in Canadian Criminal Justice (2020). She is a recognized expert in the area of mental disorder in both civil and criminal law contexts. She has been retained as an expert witness in mental health justice matters. Ms. Szigeti has been a leader in the field for 30 years at the Ontario bar. She has been representing clients in Nunavut since 2014 as a member of the Nunavut Law Society. Ms. Szigeti was the Chair of the Mental Health Legal Committee (MHLC) for a decade and the founding first Chair of Legal Aid Ontario’s Mental Health Law & Policy Advisory Group. For six years, she served as an elected Toronto Director of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA) and the Association’s Chair of its Mental Disorder Portfolio. She also served as the CLA’s Women’s Director through COVID in 2020-2021. Ms. Szigeti is the founder and President of the Law And Mental Disorder Association (LAMDA), a national umbrella advocacy organization of 200 lawyers practising mental health law. She is the Secretary of Women in Canadian Criminal Defence (WiCCD), a national advocacy organization for women and gender non-conforming criminal defence lawyers in Canada. Ms. Szigeti’s community involvement extends to membership on the governing body of several other organizations, including as the sole Canadian representative on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA), an American advocacy organization based in Colorado, and Pilot Place Society, a not for profit 24/7 supervised housing service provider in Toronto.

Ms. Szigeti’s litigation career spans thousands of tribunal level cases, hundreds of cases argued in appellate Courts including more than a dozen in the Supreme Court of Canada. Ms. Szigeti has also been involved in more than a dozen death inquiries focusing on police use of force in interactions with persons in crisis and just as many high profile Inquests concerning other mental health related deaths. In 2016, she joined the prestigious Trial Advocacy faculty at the University of Toronto law school. She is a frequent guest lecturer in many mental health law courses at law schools across the country, including at the University of Toronto. Ms. Szigeti is passionate about teaching advocacy as well as the substantive law of mental disorder. She has provided education and training throughout her career to Crowns, Coroners, adjudicators, psychiatrists, defence lawyers, clients, their families and anyone else who asked. She has particular expertise in training tribunal, board and agency adjudicators on how to address mental health matters culturally competently. Ms. Szigeti has mentored hundreds of new lawyers and law students and loves coaching advocacy at trial and appellate levels, including coaching mooting teams at law schools. When she’s not mentoring new generations of lawyers and law students, she is in a courtroom litigating, nearly every day. She is grateful for three decades of opportunities to advocate on behalf of vulnerable people, giving a voice to those who otherwise may not be heard at all.

MAYA SHUKAIRY

Maya Shukairy is a criminal defence lawyer. She is a sole practitioner and her practice focuses exclusively on criminal and quasi-criminal matters. Her practice is based in Ottawa, Ontario. Maya speaks French, English and Arabic and she is a member of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association and is currently the Recent Call Director. She is also an assistant secretary of WICCD, a newly formed association for Women’s rights. WICCD stands for Women In Canadian Criminal Defence. 

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN – LINK TO REGISTER IS IN THE PROGRAM FLYER HERE:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18dSglkQd4n6yBQ4g7dpDC1_DfMqzHl7N/view?usp=sharing