Letter: Outrage at counselling for women

I am writing in response to an article on June 6 entitled “LSUC considers counselling for returnees.”

The gist was that the Law Society of Upper Canada is considering offering career counselling to female lawyers to help them understand the consequences of leaving the practice of law before they make the leap.

I am a female with a young child who was born six years into my law career. Before I decided to have my child, I created a plan as to how I was going to manage being a lawyer and a mother. I evaluated the likely impact on my work and planned accordingly.

These are the same skills I use daily for my clients. I evaluate issues and create litigation plans for them based on a variety of factors. I do this well because I am a good lawyer.

I feel outrage at the proposed career counselling for female lawyers. If you cannot figure out something that important in your own life, are you truly capable of making recommendations to clients and being paid for them?

As with much of the extra pampering the LSUC seems to feel that female lawyers need, I am left with the thought I always have: not everyone needs to be a practising lawyer.

If some women leave the profession because they’d rather stay at home with their children, that is OK. We don’t need to cajole them into staying in the practice of law.

Treat us all the same. We are lawyers, and if some people choose to stop practising, let them. There are many others of both genders waiting to fill the ranks.