The letter drew over 500 law student signatures and prompted a response from the outgoing Law Society Treasurer
As protests against anti-Black racism and police brutality continue around the world, the legal profession continues to grapple with how to confront these issues. After the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) participated in the #blackouttuesday social media campaign in June, a group of students at U of T’s Faculty of Law organized the law school student community to push the LSO to do more to confront its own exclusionist legacy.
A grassroots letter: collective concern and call for action
On June 15, the student community sent an open letter to the LSO asking it to commit to meaningful, substantive action to address anti-Black racism in the profession. The grassroots letter, developed in consultation with the Law Students’ Society of Ontario and the Black Law Students’ Association chapters at U of T and Osgoode, has now garnered over 500 signatures from current law students and alumni across Ontario.
In the letter, students expressed the collective concern that the LSO’s #blackouttuesday statement was “more harmful than helpful” in light of recent actions by some LSO benchers. These actions, cited in the letter below, actively denied the existence of systemic racism and undermined equity and diversity efforts within the profession.
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The letter urged the LSO to pursue more substantive action in support of Black licensees, including following through on its own commitments to equity and diversity initiatives among other things. Students argued this was necessary in light of lawyers’ obligations to recognize and protect diversity within the community, and to consider students’ interests, given that LSO decisions directly affect those entering the profession.
Additional signatures to the letter can be found in an appendix here.
An acknowledgement from the outgoing LSO Treasurer
On June 25, Malcolm Mercer, the outgoing LSO Treasurer, responded to the community’s concerns regarding the letter above. Mercer stated he was “saddened and ashamed” that the LSO had lost credibility in speaking out against racism, and acknowledged that despite certain benchers’ actions, there continues to be active and ongoing support for equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives within (an admittedly divided) Convocation.
As the students who have organized this letter, we believe that putting pressure on elected representatives is vital to bring about meaningful change. While it may be tempting to dismiss the actions of the benchers who deny the existence of systemic racism as out of touch, we cannot forget that they were elected into power by Ontario lawyers. Denial or passivity towards systemic racism continues to be a problem in our profession. We are encouraged by Mercer and incoming treasurer Teresa Donnelly’s acknowledgement of that fact and commitment to taking steps to address it.
We hope that our letter to the LSO is indicative of future progress on equity and diversity in the profession. The significant support from students across the province indicates that many of us want something better from our governing body, and that the legal profession is long overdue for meaningful change.
We encourage students to take the time to learn about anti-Black racism in the legal profession and in the community, and to commit to doing our part to address it, both now and as future lawyers. We should also continue to follow the LSO’s actions on equity and diversity closely, and hold the LSO accountable to its commitments going forward.