Chaired by Lenczner Slaght partner Tom Curry, the event focuses on the importance of storytelling
Before the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in hybrid and remote work on a mass scale, it was more common for lawyers to run into each other. Chance meetings in robing rooms and lawyers’ lounges would sometimes evolve into fruitful mentor-mentee relationships, but for Tom Curry, that once-familiar experience might be on the verge of extinction.
“It was just the course of things. A lawyer would go to court. She would have to use the robing room to change into her court attire. She would meet other lawyers there,” says Curry, a partner at Lenczner Slaght.
“At lunch breaks, they would have lunch together in the dining room at Osgoode Hall or in the lounges at the courthouse. And in those moments, people would meet and renew acquaintances and tell stories.”
Now, as traffic in these shared spaces becomes sparser, “we just don't run into other lawyers in the way that I've described,” Curry says. “The new reality of the efficiency of virtual hearings is that there are fewer occasions when lawyers can see other people in person in the profession, and therefore fewer opportunities for them to learn.”
To remedy this situation, Curry aims to replicate the past. On Feb. 6, Curry will chair “Tales from the Courtroom: Mentorship through Storytelling,” an event at the Ontario Bar Association’s Ontario Legal Conference. Guest speakers will share stories about their mentors, who influenced their careers, mistakes they’ve made, and challenges they’ve faced.
Meant to be fun and informative, the event – the third in a series that started in 2023 – will provide an opportunity for younger and senior lawyers to meet.
Geoffrey Adair, a founding partner at litigation boutique Adair Goldblatt Bieber LLP, and Julianna Greenspan, a partner at criminal defence firm Greenspan Partners LLP, will speak at the event.
“That was a constant feature of my years at the bar – meeting people in the robing room and in the dining room and in the lawyers’ lounge and learning from them about their experiences,” Curry says. “Who are you in front of today? What's that judge like? How did that go? What worked in this case, and what worked in that case?”
Post-pandemic, “we have to try to fill in some of those things with these kinds of programs,” Curry says. “That’s what I'm excited about.”
