For those interested in this vexing topic, lots of things to check out for history, insight and plans of action if not solutions per se!
On my LinkedIn here
https://tinyurl.com/2jdy58sv
Join Women In Canadian Criminal Defence next week on June 2 for an important conversation about gender based bullying in the legal profession with @Clare Benton and Kyla Lee. Register here: https://tr.ee/g0k7fXlfis
You may also want to listen to this podcast WiCCD’s Exec appeared on, Verdicts and Voices, hosted by Alison Crawford here: https://tr.ee/RPo3gUu_4w
WiCCD’s YouTube Episode with our Exec members discussing Women Defending Sexual Assault Cases here: https://tr.ee/3zdBJ_i9aR
And check out my columns on the issue, which led me to start WiCCD here: https://anitaszigeti.com/2021/12/07/women-in-the-criminal-defence-bar-part-iii-solutions/
As well as our Surveys on related topics here: https://anitaszigeti.com/2023/05/17/women-leaving-the-criminal-defence-bar-wiccd-survey-may-2023-the-new-is-not-good-underfunded-legal-aid-and-gender-bias-are-to-blame/
About Anita Szigeti
• Called to the Bar (1992)
• U of T Law grad (1990)
• Sole practitioner (33 years)
• Partner in small law firm (Hiltz Szigeti) 2002 - 2013
• Mom to two astonishing kids, Scarlett (20+) and Sebastian (20-)
• (Founding) Chair of Mental Health Legal Committee for ten years (1997 to 2007)
* Founding President of Law and Mental Disorder Association - LAMDA since 2017
* Founder and Secretary to Women in Canadian Criminal Defence - WiCCD - since 2022
• Counsel to clients with serious mental health issues before administrative tribunals and on appeals
• Former Chair, current member of LAO’s mental health law advisory committee
• Educator, lecturer, widely published author (including 5 text books on consent and capacity law, Canadian civil mental health law, the criminal law of mental disorder, a law school casebook and a massive Anthology on all things mental health and the law)
• Thirty+ years’ experience as counsel to almost exclusively legally aided clients
• Frequently appointed amicus curiae
• Fearless advocate
• Not entirely humourless
anitaszigeti 