TORONTO (February 20, 2018) – Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) is pleased to announce its new program focused on reintegrating highly talented women lawyers into the workforce after a career break.
The program, called ReLaunch, gives women who have left the workforce for two or more years the opportunity to gain experience at a leading Canadian law firm and within the bank’s in-house legal department. It was created in partnership with CIBC.
“We know that many women legal professionals who are taking extended leaves from the practice of law to focus on their families can find it challenging to reestablish their careers. Many are incredibly talented, and Canadian businesses and law firms could definitely benefit from their expertise,” said Blakes Partner Cheryl Satin, who was instrumental in launching the initiative.
The first participant of this program is Diana Nakka, who left the legal practice to focus on raising her children. She will be spending three months working at Blakes before being seconded to CIBC for the second half of the program.
“When it comes to tackling the issue of gender equality, we believe in a multi-pronged approach,” said Brock Gibson, Chair of Blakes. “Talented women are still facing many hurdles, and by creating and supporting programs enabling women in different ways, we hope to get there quicker.”
Blakes is committed to achieving a better gender balance in the workplace. In recent years, the Firm has been repeatedly recognized by a leading publication as one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers and one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers. Blakes is an active participant in the Canada Advisory Committee of the 30% Club, a global organization whose Canadian goal is to boost the proportion of women on boards of directors to 30% by 2020, without regulatory intervention or mandatory quotas.
About Blakes
At Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes), we serve a diverse national and international client base, and our integrated office network provides clients with access to the Firm's full spectrum of capabilities in virtually every area of business law. Blakes has offices across Canada and in New York, London, Bahrain and Beijing, along with associated offices in Al-Khobar and Riyadh. Thanks to our clients, in 2017, Blakes is once again ranked as having the leading law firm brand in Acritas’ Canadian Law Firm Index. This is the third time we have received this recognition. We are also named Canada Law Firm of the Year in the Who’s Who Legal Awards for the ninth consecutive year and remain the top-ranked Canadian firm in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business. In addition, we are recognized as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., an honour we have received seven times since 2008.
