www.canadianlawyermag.com 15
But it was important to Bromwich that her
children didn't see her give up on her own
identity and contribution, and she says she
has benefited from people doing progres-
sive things to accommodate her. At the CBA,
she was given a flexible work week. At one
of the other firms for which she worked, her
managing partner was "incredibly aware and
knowledgeable of the challenges I was facing,"
Bromwich says.
"She was the first woman to article in
London, Ont. after the war, and she had been
required by a judge to leave her hospital bed
— she was on bedrest with a pregnancy — to
come to trial."
While there has been progress in some ways,
she says it's not something to be complacent
about. Large, international firms are aware
that diversity and inclusion is good business,
as well as the right thing to do, and most have
roles like Bromwich's. But through research
Bromwich did prior to her role at Gowling, she
knows there are still firms — especially smaller
ones — with no maternity or parental leave
policies, places where people get fired on mat
leave, places where there's overt racial discrim-
ination and discrimination based on disability.
Having those conditions reported to her
in the course of her research was alarming,
because her experience was with larger firms
and the CBA, where she assumed the accom-
modations she received were routine and across
the board — but there's no transparency about
that in terms of some of the smaller firms.
"Statistics show we're not done," Bromwich
says, pointing out that the National
Association of Women and the Law recently
reported that, at the current pace, it will take
164 years to close the economic gender gap
in Canada.
"We're not there yet. We need to be con-
tinuously attentive to the need to insist on
diversity and inclusion and keep these things
on the agenda."
*Hear more from Bromwich, who is a speaker at
the upcoming Women in Law Summit on Feb. 12.
Visit womeninlaw.ca for more information.
