About
Creating a Seat at the Table: Reflections from Women in Law is the product of a collaboration between Beth Bilson KC, Leah Howie and Brea Lowenberger.
The book is informed and inspired in part by previous work of organizations such as the Law Society of Saskatchewan and the ground-breaking Touchstones Report (1993) of the Canadian Bar Association.
The Law Society of Saskatchewan’s Justicia Project Report (2016) outlined that “while women are entering the legal profession and private practice in record numbers, the statistics across the country show that they also leave private practice in disproportionate numbers."
When Saskatchewan lawyers were asked how equitability in their workplace could be improved, the “most common answer (18%) was a need to increase female leadership and overall presence in the workplace.” In considering the impacts that proper mentorship had on participants, “[o]verall, there were comments that there seems to be less mentorship occurring today than in the past.”
Other data collected indicated that there was “… a need for more networking among women.” More recently, several participants at the March 2019 meeting of the Dean’s Forum on Access to Justice identified that “[b]arriers to inclusion can be deeply entrenched and so using inspiration from the work and practices developed by others may be an important step to creating a faster pace of change than has historically been the case”.
This project brought together a group of women alumni to reflect on their experiences, and those reflections are the foundation of a book, published in October 2023 that celebrates success and inspires ongoing action. Creating a Seat at the Table can be ordered on the University of Regina Press website.
A podcast associated with the “Creating a Seat” initiative was also produced. All episodes for the “Dear Beth…A Women in Law Podcast” are listed below. Thank you to all who have contributed to the initiative!
Get involved
CREATE Justice hopes to build on this project by engaging with USask Law graduates and other Saskatchewan lawyers on additional initiatives that will foster leadership, mentorship and networking among female lawyers. Donations are currently being sought to fund these initiatives.
How has this project impacted you?
Participate in an online survey aimed at capturing impact of the Creating a Seat book; and Dear Beth…A Women in Law Podcast – and prioritizing areas and issues for action in the future.
Subscribe to our email list
This is the best way to stay up-to-date on our next steps.
Make a donation
Contributing financially will help make next steps possible. Please email us at create.justice@usask.ca to discuss how you'd like to help.
Project news
- Alumni Book Nook Featuring Creating a Seat at the Table: Reflections from Women in Law (USask Green & White, October 16, 2024)
Summer 2024
- Dear Beth...A Women in Law Podcast (Newsletter)
- Interview with Shauna Powers, “Creating a Seat at the Table: Reflections from Women in Law” (CBC Saskatchewan Weekend, October 15, 2023)
- Brea Lowenberger, Leah Howie, and Beth Bilson, KC, "Upcoming A2J Week Highlight: An Invitation to Join Us In The Launch Of 'Creating A Seat' Book And 'Dear Beth... A Women In Law Podcast'" (Law Society of Saskatchewan Announcement, October 6, 2023)
- Hannah Jorgenson, “Book Review: Creating a Seat at the Table” (CBA SK Barnotes, September 28, 2023)
- Beth Bilson, KC, “Sisters in law are doing it for themselves” (CBA National, August 24, 2023)
- Beth Bilson, KC, Leah Howie, and Brea Lowenberger, “Invitation To Support HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE – Celebrating Success, Inspiring Action: Letters From Women Alumni Of The University Of Saskatchewan College Of Law” (Law Society of Saskatchewan Blog, September 9, 2021)
Podcast
Dear Beth…A Women in Law Podcast
A podcast about what women in the legal profession experience. The hurdles they encounter, the challenges they face, but also the heroic and inspiring ways they are shifting paradigms and dismantling the status quo.
Epidode 1: "It's never to late to be who you might have been" with feature guest Adrienne Forgeron, B.Comm., J.D. of The Gentle Lawyer.
Episode 2: “Never Use Others for Kindling” with feature guests Brooke Johnson Isaak, JD and Kate Bilson, B.A (Hons.), LL.B, LL.M.
Episode 3: "The Otherside: what does being an accomplice look like?" Special co-host Lawren Trotchie, a Métis lawyer, joins Leah Howie and Jen Quesnel in the studio. Feature guest is Courtenay Phillips, a Cree lawyer who practices privacy law.
Episode 4: "Creating a Seat at the Table: A Roundtable Discussion." In this special episode of Dear Beth, A Women in Law Podcast, we share a recording of the official student book launch of Creating a Seat at the Table: Reflections from Women in Law which took place October 16th, 2023 at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law.
Episode 5: “Sweeping Away the Cobwebs” with Former Supreme Court Justice Madam Justice Rosalie Abella and Beth Billson, KC, on justice advocacy and social change.
Episode 6: “Think (Much) Bigger” with Justice Michele Hollins on greater awareness about mental health in the legal profession and what it means to think and dream much bigger – and why this too is an integral part of wellness and wellbeing.
Episode 7: "You Can’t Self-Help Your Way Out of Inequality, Oppression, or Exhaustion”, with Soraya Chemaly, also featuring Leah Howie, Beth Bilson, KC, and Brea Lowenberger on how anger is an emotion that can be channeled for personal growth and a powerful tool to fight against injustice. In this last episode of the season, co-hosts also reflect on their favorite moments from the past season and the power of storytelling.
Listen on: