“It was really important for me when I was developing my mandate to come from a place of authenticity and experience,” she said in an interview with Law360 Canada.
Like many OBA members, she added, she is “constantly trying to balance a busy practice and life.”
Kelly McDermott, Ontario Bar Association president
McDermott “always relied on the OBA for career support,” but she “didn't anticipate how much of a lifeline” the association would become when she was in crisis.
“They stepped up with education, mental health support, and most importantly, incomparable peer support that just felt so safe and judgment free. And it kind of struck me like lightning in a bottle that this is the real magic of the OBA. The OBA is there for members, not just for their careers as lawyers, but for their life as a lawyer. And I wanted to provide as many meaningful, accessible entry points and opportunities as possible for our members to have that same kind of support,” she explained about her mandate.
McDermott took on the presidency on March 1, starting her term “six months earlier due to the appointment of Justice Ranjan Agarwal to the Superior Court of Justice last year.”
According to an OBA release, Justice Agarwal was “set to become OBA president this past September, but his appointment led to the decision to have Karen Perron continue to lead for another six months and for McDermott to start her presidency in March.”
The OBA stepped up when McDermott needed help, and she emphasized the magic of the “peer support network for guidance,” as well as the “social support, the mental health and wellness tools that the OBA provided; it just became my community.”
This inspired McDermott’s mandate, which will be “focused on centralizing and building the invaluable support tools for our members to help them up when life puts them down, making them more accessible and expanding on our OBA Link platform, and tapping into the peer support network.”
McDermott also wants to provide “programs that deal with everything from isolation, burnout, quiet quitting, workplace accommodations,” and “expand on online and real-world networks.”
“Connecting those lawyers or those members facing similar issues,” she said, such as “caretaking, practising with a disability, people going through divorces for support, advice and referrals,” would be an expansion of the peer network.
“I feel I think very compelled, given my unique experience, to expand the dialogue on lawyers with disabilities and lawyers who are caretakers to those with disabilities. I’m really hoping, during my presidency, the OBA will provide lawyers with disabilities and their respective firms, employers, with supports and tools to make their practice easier,” she said.
McDermott, a senior in-house counsel at the Regional Municipality of Durham, said that every lawyer comes “to the table with a different life story,” different challenges that’s “often not reflected in how the practice of law has traditionally worked.”
The OBA, she explained, recognizes that “all these life factors do factor into how you’re showing up in your workplace, how you’re showing up to your clients.”
“And in order to be your best self, your best lawyer, you need to find the balance between work and home life,” she said, comparing the balance to the oxygen mask on an airplane analogy: “in order to help others you need to first secure your own mask to ensure that you are able to give your best.”
With so many people feeling the effects of burnout, she noted, “there’s a lot of concern that we’re not showing up as our best selves and providing our best selves to our clients.”
“Where I see the OBA being so invaluable is to provide the tools for our lawyers to deal with changes, to deal with managing a practice when life happens, when crisis happens, and that’s where I see a great entry point and that there are already a lot of tools available through the OBA,” she said, noting that she wants to centralize, expand and make those tools more accessible.
McDermott’s mandate also has a “focus on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI),” she said, noting that EDI is a “priority for the OBA.”
She explained that the organization will continue “ongoing OBA projects, including Not Another Decade, which was introduced by our past-past president Charlene Theodore,” which is about making “demonstrable and sustainable change when it comes to EDI over the next 10 years.”
“I look forward to adding my own chapter to that ongoing story of EDI,” she added, noting that OBA is also accepting applications for its Innovator in Residence program.
While McDermott described being president as “surreal,” she also emphasized that she has “holistic experience in the legal field,” which will help her support the membership.
“While I am the first municipal government lawyer to hold this position,” she said, “I've also had experiences at national firms, boutique firms. I've practised on both sides of the labour and management side of the bar. So, I have a pretty good holistic understanding of the different hats that our members may wear.”
“I think that gives me some unique insight into supporting our members in different areas because I’ve been there, I’ve seen the suite of different ways to practise law,” she added.
According to the OBA, McDermott leads an “all-female team of officers,” serving alongside first vice-president Kathryn Manning; Signa Daum Shanks as secretary; treasurer Mariam Moktar; and Karen Perron who becomes immediate past-president, taking over from Charlene Theodore who completes her 18 months of service in that role.”
“I am excited to serve a profession I love alongside these amazing women officers and a terrific board. I want to thank Karen and Charlene for taking on their roles for an extra six months. They have supported me and provided examples of leadership I will be proud to follow. I also want to thank my wonderful colleagues at the Regional Municipality of Durham for agreeing to support me in my extended role,” McDermott said in a statement.
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