Young Women in Law is a not for profit organization dedicated to advancing the interests of women lawyers in the early stages of their careers, and strives to meet the diverse needs of its roughly 275 members. In meeting those diverse needs, YWL endeavours to host a variety of events — both substantive and social. One of the many tools we use to advance our members’ professional interests is by hosting networking opportunities, opportunities that are not provided enough to junior female lawyers.
In January 2013, the Justicia Project of the Law Society of Upper Canada released its “
Guide to Business Development for Women Lawyers.” This report noted that being a lawyer is far more multi-faceted than simply doing good work, and stated the following at page 5:
“Most lawyers and many law firms understand the reality that it takes more than being a great lawyer to be successful. Yet, many firms still underemphasize the importance of honing business development skills from an early stage in your career. The result is that associates who never learned how to develop client business struggle when they become partners and are suddenly responsible for generating work.”
YWL seeks to minimize that development gap and help women in the early stages of their careers by providing a supportive network and events that help to advance the skills that they need to set themselves onto the career path that they want.
The “Beauty Gurus in Law” event hosted on Nov. 26, 2015 was a casual event featuring refreshments, light snacks, and an instructional session on make-up products. It was designed to first and foremost provide an opportunity for our members to deploy their networking skills in an informal setting.
YWL has hosted, and will continue to host, other networking events, such as morning yoga classes, wine tasting seminars, and cocktail receptions (including those co-hosted with other organizations like Women in Capital Markets).
Our organization has also hosted numerous substantive workshops and panel discussions, including the following: securing employment after articles, negotiating in your career, formulating career plans, participating in performance reviews, building resilience and happiness, and maximizing mentor relationships.
All of these events together provide our members with guidance on how to navigate all facets of their legal careers strategically and with professionalism.
Finally, YWL values giving back to the community and annually hosts a charity gala, which last year sold 250 tickets and raised $18,000 in support of Covenant House.
We thank
Canadian Lawyer for featuring videos of both a substantive YWL event entitled “Life after Hireback” and a fun, social networking Shiseido event entitled “Beauty Gurus in Law” in order to illustrate the breadth of our members’ interests and the variety of our event programming.
For more information on YWL and our wide range of events, please visit
our web site.
