Welcome to the 84th year of Women’s Law Association of Ontario/Association des femmes jurists de l’Ontario.

I wish to thank all of the WLAO current members for joining or maintaining their involvement in this organization. Our roots go back to 1919 where being a woman lawyer was not common. We have come a long way since then but still have a long way to go.

We are always looking:

1. for new members (please see membership initiatives)

2. to hear from our existing members what we are doing right and how we need to improve

3. to hear from our members about any issues that impact women lawyers

WLAO opened its year (2002-2003) honouring two outstanding women:

1. Linda Silver Dranoff

2. Avvy Go

Both women have shown a strong commitment to improve the quality of life for people of equity seeking groups, including women. Their tireless efforts were not lost on WLAO. We applaud these efforts and encourage them to continue in their quest to have people treated equally. Please click on their names to read more about Linda Silver Dranoff and Avvy Go.

WLAO wishes all of its members the best of luck throughout 2003. WLAO intends to continue to become more involved in promoting women in the legal profession. One way in which we are currently involved is through the promotion of Bencher candidates who espouse WLAO policies (please visit our website www.wlao.on.ca for more information about this).

WLAO continues to liaise with other legal organizations that promote women in the legal profession and to assist women lawyers including the Law Society, Advocates’ Society, OBAP, LINK and OBA. Look to our website for upcoming events with the Law Society, OBA, and other organisations in celebration of International Women's Day throughout March and into April.

Elissa Gamus

2003 President