On March 5th, 2018, Associate Alycia Shaw and our articling student, Elsa Ascencio, were invited to speak at an event hosted by the Women’s Legal Mentorship Program at the University of Ottawa. The event – titled “Racialized Women Working in Law”— explored the barriers that racialized female lawyers face in the legal profession. Alycia and Elsa, along with other lawyers from the Ottawa legal community, answered questions from the audience in regards to recruitment, mental health, and involvement in civic society.
The event came at an appropriate time, notably with the rise of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement. The event was in partnership with other racialized student groups and the #LawNeedsFeminismBecause group at the University of Ottawa. Thank you to the Asian Law Students Society and the Latin American Law Students Association for inviting us!
Jewitt McLuckie started the year by visiting with medical students at Ottawa Hospital’s general campus. On January 3, 2018, Randy and Alycia met with physical medicine and rehabilitation resident physicians to talk to them about how they can best support patients who struggle with disability and who are having difficulty accessing disability benefits. Both Randy and Alycia were impressed by the engagement and intelligence of the young women and men who attended the session.
Image credit: The Ottawa Hospital
What is it? A unique workshop introducing lawyers to Mindfulness Practices
Date: November 9, 2017
Time: 9:00 am – 3:30 pm
Location: The office of Jewitt McLuckie & Associates LLP, 2nd floor, 1505 Carling Avenue, Ottawa K1Z 7L9
Facilitators: David Jewitt LLB, Partner, Jewitt Mcluckie & Associates LLP and Craig Mackie, MA, MSW, RSW, Owner, Essential Change
What’s in it for me? Accredited by the Law Society for 3.5 Professionalism Hours (that’s all of the mandatory LSUC “Professionalism” CPD requirements for 2017), plus the valuable content outlined below.
Cost: $200.00 plus HST. Includes all course materials. Lunch not included
To Register: email craig@essentialchange.net or david@jewittmcluckie.ca
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Professional Dilemmas with Ethics: Lawyers are held to the highest of ethical standards and are required to resolve ethical dilemmas daily while in the midst of intense adversarial battles. The practice of law requires a fine awareness of our inner personal values and a deep understanding of how the Professional Code of Conduct creates rules of practice and enduring value and respect for the Profession. In this experiential workshop Participants will be offered:
- A deeper understanding of how the Professional Code of Conduct applies to their practice;
- What personal motivations are central to their practice;
- What values they need in order to strengthen their practice and navigate ethical dilemmas.
- Specific Mindfulness practices and techniques to increase the “mindfulness pause” before taking action.
- A copy of the 16 Ethical Guidelines by Alison Murdoch and Deyki-Lee Oldershaw (compassionandwisdom.org) which contains practical exercises to assist in the cultivation of mindful ethical behaviour will be included with the material.
Participants will examine personal and professional ethical scenarios to understand how the 16 Guidelines can be applied with the Rules of Professional Conduct. Basic ethical values such as Honesty; Respect, Confidentiality; Kindness; Generosity; Right Speech; Humility and Patience will be explored in conjunction with the Professional Code of Conduct Rules 3.1 – Competence, Dishonesty, 3.7 – Withdrawal, 3.2.2 – Honesty and Candour, 3.3 – Confidentiality, 3.2.2 – Honesty, 3.4 – Disclosure of Conflict 5.0 – Relationships with Colleagues, and 6.3 – Discrimination.
This workshop is designed to assist lawyers in making the connection between their own inner emotional and mental states and the ethical actions that follow in their day to day practice. Participants will be introduced to the experiential practice of Mindfulness/Meditation and the Ethical Principles outlined in the 16 Guidelines as they relate to the LSUC Professional Code of Conduct.
Mindfulness: Mindfulness allows us to pause between stimulus and response in order to respond most skillfully. It trains our attention, intention and attitude that can influence every situation we encounter (Shapiro,2006). From the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (UK); “Training in mindfulness is a conscious & directed way of shaping our neural networks according to our intentions.” With this in mind, in order to heighten a lawyers’ ability to respond ethically across all practice settings, training in mindfulness can help increase ethical decision making. Mindfulness practices will be taught to assist the participants in transforming future personal and professional ethical dilemmas into opportunities for ethical action.
16 Guidelines as a Mindful Ethical Framework: Participants will be presented with a possible framework to understand ethical conduct through a system of applied ethics called the 16 Guidelines (http://16guidelines.org) .
The 16 Guidelines are used to teach applied ethics in multiple settings. They focus on the ethics of Thought, Action, Relationship and Meaning Creation at all levels of corporate, personal and organizational culture. Each of these areas has a set of virtues or practices which will be explored in the workshop.
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More about the Facilitators:
David Jewitt, LLB, Partner, Jewitt Mcluckie & Associates LLP
After ten years of practice at a large Ottawa law firm, David established his own law firm in 1991 specializing in labour and employment law and human rights on behalf of employees and unions. David can be found on the Best Lawyers in Canada list for his expertise in the practice area of Labour and Employment Law. David also has a passion for yoga and meditation of all types having studied extensively with senior yoga teachers throughout North America and in India. He has visited Tibet and studied with senior Tibetan Lamas on various Tibetan meditation techniques.
Craig Mackie, MA, MSW, RSW, Owner, Essential Change
Craig is a consultant, mindfulness teacher and owns a clinical private practice in Ottawa. He has taught mindfulness with clinical populations since 2008 and currently teaches at the University of Toronto Applied Mindfulness Meditation Certificate program. He is an international instructor for the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (UK) and certified in symptom and stress management models of mindfulness as well as Transformative Mindfulness and the 16 Guidelines which is an ethical practice. Craig combines his knowledge of philosophy with a very practical approach to help individuals and organizations reach their fullest potential.
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Image credit: Big Autumn Blue by Stuart Williams via Flickr under Creative Commons licence
Reach Canada presents this not-to-be missed seminar, and our own Randy Slepchik will be there to help unpack the legal framework behind addiction issues in the workplace and entitlement to disability benefits. He will also discuss the best practices and strategies for assisting employees with disabilities whether as their lawyer or when assisting a colleague in the workplace.
Addressing this issue from a medical perspective will be Psychologist Matthew Rippeyoung, who will discuss the shift in how substance use and abuse is conceptualized, the variety of treatment approaches, how to support a person struggling with substance use and information about local treatment options.
Date: Tuesday April 25 at 11 am to 1 pm (bring your own lunch, refreshments available)
Location: 601 Cumberland, University of Ottawa campus, second floor above Café Nostalgica. Fully Accessible.
Register: reach.ca
This program is accredited by the Law Society of Upper Canada and contains 2 Professionalism Hour(s).
Here at JM&A we firmly believe that taking time to relax is crucial to being a happy, healthy and productive workplace, so we decided to hold an office social this past Friday. Enjoying what may turn out to be the last great skating day on the canal this season, JM&A staff took to the ice for some bonding, exercise and fresh air (and, okay, a few BeaverTails). Although there were a couple wipe-outs, everyone stepped off the ice in high spirits, not least because we were heading into a long weekend!
When John noticed that Cara’s skates weren’t tight enough, he sprang into action
We could not have asked for a bluer sky, nicer ice, or a more beautiful Ottawa day
Getting our skates on with excitement and, in Cara’s case, severe trepidation
We aren’t sure what’s going on here but despite appearances we were having fun
We are pleased to announce that John McLuckie will be co-chairing Lancaster House’s annual Bargaining in the Broader Public Sector Conference this fall.
When: December 7, 2016, plus pre- and post-conference workshops
Where: Toronto Westin Harbour Castle
Early registration will save you lots of money, so don’t wait. Check out details and register on the Lancaster House website: http://lancasterhouse.com/conferences/show/id/63
Although we’ve already had weeks of toasty summer heat, yesterday we marked the imminent beginning of the summer season with our annual 1505 Carling Avenue barbecue! There were about 45 people out enjoying the blue sky, sunshine and tasty grilled items, including the JM&A staff, folks from CUPE Local 503, the friendly people of Westboro Photonics, at least 3 dogs, and a few special guests. We always love to get outdoors and chat with friends, so it was a great way to kick off the summer!
Pictured above: Some happy diners
Pictured below: The burger lineup; Grillmaster Meghan showing off her guns
Last week, Jewitt McLuckie & Associates partnered with REACH Canada to host one-day conference called “Mental Wellness in the Workplace: Understanding and Working with PTSD, Addictions and Depression.” With mental health issues now a leading cause of short and long-term disability claims in Canada [1], this timely topic drew over 80 people to the CUPE Local 503 Training Hall on Carling Avenue. Medical experts, labour lawyers, union leaders, first responders, peer support program coordinators, mental health and disability advocates all generously shared their knowledge via slide presentations and lively panel discussions. We learned about identifying these “invisible disabilities”, developing accommodation plans that work for employees and employers, and the upcoming changes recognizing PTSD presumptively as a Workplace Illness for first responders as set out in Bill 163, as well as practical tips for lawyers and laypeople working their way through the WSIB and long-term disability claims processes.
Conference feedback was extremely positive for the overall experience, and we are proud to report that while they enjoyed the presentations, attendees also found practical benefits. Some appreciated the strategies for dealing with insurance companies and navigating workplace accommodation processes, while others intend to use what they learned to initiate peer support groups in their own workplaces.
This conference had a purpose beyond merely sharing knowledge: it was a fundraiser for REACH Canada, a charitable, self-funded and non-profit organization currently celebrating its 35th year connecting people with various disabilities to lawyer referral and educational services. Jewitt McLuckie & Associates is pleased to announce that as a result of this Conference, REACH will be receiving a donation of $3000.00 and we wish them many fruitful years continuing their excellent work in the community.
[1] https://canadasafetycouncil.org/workplace-safety/mental-health-and-workplace
“Where have all the good people gone?” wonders Canadian rock legend Sam Roberts in one of his songs. We’re pretty sure a lot of them were gathered at TD Place Saturday night for the 8th annual Rock for Public Services concert organized by CUPE Local 503. Roberts and his band were joined by Matt Mays and Amanda Rheaume and played for a full house of music-loving union members and public servants, as well as Ottawans who appreciate a free concert. As always, the concert was raising funds for charity, and this year’s chosen organization was the NWAC’s Sisters In Spirit initiative. Attendees raised $12, 246.72! JM&A was proud to contribute to this important cause.
