She will lead the organization for the 2024-2025 term
The Federation of Law Societies of Canada has elected Teresa Donnelly as its president for the 2024-2025 term.
Donnelly will work alongside Vice President and President-Elect 2024-2025 Louis-Martin Beaumont, as well as Second Vice President 2024-2025 Mark Mossey.
Donnelly commenced with the Federation Council in 2022. She was first appointed as a bencher with the Law Society of Ontario is 2015, a role to which she was re-elected in 2019.
Between 2020 and 2022, she was treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario – only the fifth woman to take on the role in the organization’s history. During this period, she concentrated on wellness, equity, diversity, inclusion, and Indigenous reconciliation within the legal profession. Moreover, she focused on the critical role played by paralegals in boosting access to justice in Ontario, as well as on reconciliation and the competence and ethical responsibilities of lawyers and paralegals.
Donnelly has also contributed to supporting legal practitioners’ mental health, the elevation of professional standards, and the promotion of inclusivity. The Law Society of Ontario presented her with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree this year.
Since 1994, she has been a prosecutor with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. She also worked as assistant Crown attorney in the region of Waterloo and the county of Huron; in addition, she was the Crown attorney for the county of Huron.
In 2015, Donnelly commenced as the West Region Sexual Violence Crown – one of a focused team of seven prosecutors specializing in improving the quality of sexual violence prosecutions in Ontario and throughout Canada. She concentrates on bolstering access to justice for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Donnelly succeeds Saskatchewan-based Erin Kleisinger in the role. In her year-long tenure as president, Kleisinger drove the progress of Federation initiatives such as wellness, anti-money laundering efforts, and professional standards.
