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ERSE P DIVERSITY REPORT icture this: British Columbia, 1984. A 24-year- old woman is the first black person in 20 years to earn her law degree from the University of British Columbia. She finds an articling posi- tion at a small local firm. "I am in my first court case, they sent me to court, they prepped me, and I had never thought of the fact that my race could affect my client," she says. "I'm the only black person, my firm sends me off, I have a white client; a corporate client, his son got into trouble. And I've gone over everything with my boss. I'm partway through my little trial and every instinct in me tells me something is wrong. . . . [The judge] asks me what my authority is for even asking questions of the witness. Well I don't know about you, but in law school they tell you this is the right of counsel, to ask questions. I'm standing there going 'this is a nightmare, what does he mean I can't ask questions?' So I proceed to just talk over him, and he threatens me with contempt of court." She did all she could for her client, a scared 17-year-old boy. Then she spent a few hours collecting herself and went back to the office. "One of my bosses said, 'You know what? We didn't think you'd have any problem.'" The lawyer told her they'd noticed the judge had issues with black-accused. "And I said well why didn't you tell me? It would have made a difference because I spent part of the time doubting my own assessment. He said, 'No, but you're not an accused, you're our articling student.' That tells you everything that's wonderful about these guys because it didn't occur to them that I could experience it. But it says everything about what people don't understand about the nature of racism when you step into those spaces as a black person by yourself." That story lies behind Joanne St. Lewis' decision not to pur- sue her desired career in private practice litigation. Today she is a professor at the University of Ottawa law school and a leader in the bar, including being the first black woman elected as a bencher to the Law Society of Upper Canada. firm from the next, gets summer and articling positions at a big Bay Street shop. Having a great interest in immigration issues, including starting an immigration law clinic during law school, she convinces her articling principal to funnel all the firm's immigration work her way. Still, she says "I thought there's just absolutely no way I'm going stay in a big firm because back then I did not fit into the culture. In 1995 and 1994, 1996, they were not accommodating to diversity, and I had some very interesting incidents occur, which I'm grateful that don't occur anymore." Once called, she eschewed Bay Street, opting instead for boutique firms and was able to build a strong practice encompassing many areas of immigration law. Fast-forward a few years; a number of friends approach P her and suggest she starts an immigration practice at one of the big national law firms because they see a need she can fill. "Honestly I thought, 'there is no way I will ever fit into a big law firm culture. I tried. It was horrible. I'm not going back." Even though she has a series of interviews set up at the firm, she won't even write a resume to take with her "because I was so determined that I would not fit in. Because I just had the negative predisposition that I felt 13 years earlier and then I had heard some horror stories from other people at big firms, and I thought 'I don't fit in. I'm not like that.' And I have very icture this: Toronto, mid-1990s. A young Muslim lawyer, despite never having known a lawyer and not knowing one www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com OC T O BER 2009 27