The Work That Doesn’t Show Up on Your Timesheet There is a category of work that many women in law perform every single day that is rarely acknowledged, never billed, and almost never rewarded. It is called emotional labour and in a legal workplace, it is everywhere. Emotional labour is the work of managing not just your own professional relationships, but the emotional climate of the people around you. It’s the junior associate who comes to you in distress and whom you spend forty minutes supporting, even though you have a memo due. It’s being the person who remembers birthdays, smooths over tensions in the team, checks in on the colleague who seems off, and makes sure everyone feels included at the firm retreat. It’s being asked to mentor, to sit on the diversity committee, and to speak at the…

The Moment Almost Every Female Lawyer Knows You walk into the boardroom. You’re prepared and may even be leading the meeting. And then it happens; someone hands you their coat, asks you to fetch coffee, or turns to your male colleague to ask who’s in charge. You are. You are in charge. If you’re a woman in law, you may have been mistaken for an assistant, paralegal, court clerk, or “someone’s helper” at least once in your career. Many of us have lost count. Why It Keeps Happening This isn’t about individual bad actors, though those exist too. It’s about deeply ingrained assumptions about who holds power and what that person looks like. The legal profession has historically been male dominated, and despite significant progress, the image of “the lawyer in the room” remains stubbornly gendered in many people’s minds….

Many women in law can understand the uncertainty that comes with navigating workplace policies and politics during pregnancy. When a female lawyer approached me at a networking event regarding their firm’s lack of maternity leave policy, I was shocked but not surprised. Pregnancy, while often a source of joy and excitement for expecting mothers, can be mystifying and confusing in a male dominated field where some firms still lack maternity and parental leave policies. In addition, members of the British Columbia Law Society are an exempt profession under the Employment Standards Act, RSBC 1996, c 113, leaving many pregnant lawyers questioning what their entitlements to leave may be. Law firms do have legal obligations under human rights legislation to not discriminate on the basis of pregnancy and family status, and accordingly have a duty to accommodate to the point of…

Unplugging over the holidays is more than just a nice idea—it has real benefits for professional performance, wellbeing, and long-term career sustainability. I am the first to admit that taking time away from work can be challenging, so I’ve put together some tips that have worked for me when it comes prioritizing rest when our schedules allow – without pretending we can disappear entirely. 1. Set a “coverage plan” before you log off Assign a colleague to monitor urgent emails or court deadlines and agree on what counts as urgent. This reduces the temptation to constantly check in “just in case.” 2. Create a clear out-of-office message Use language that sets expectations: Let contacts know response times will be slower. Provide your coverage contact. If you must check email, set a specific window (e.g., mornings only), and say so. 3….

Dear LiL: As a lawyer, I often find myself working on cases that involve complex ethical dilemmas. How can lawyers balance their professional obligations with personal moral values when these two aspects seem to conflict? Are there any specific frameworks or strategies that you recommend for navigating these challenging situations?