Orlando da Silva has changed the conversation inside the legal profession around mental health. Julie talks with Orlando about his decision to go public with his own mental health challenges, and the impact on both law firms and law schools. Orlando describes some of the consequences of a traditional lawyering culture that prizes aggressive, catastrophic strategies over kindness and pragmatism in solving legal problems, and how to stay emotionally healthy in such a bruising environment. Reflecting on Orlando's interview, Elizabeth Roberts offers insights from the perspective of a litigant with invisible disabilities, and how we might create a gentler, fairer justice system.
In other news: first, we encourage all our listeners to learn more about the movement that began in Wet’suwet’en over the construction of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, and has escalated (as of February 6th) with members of the first nation being arrested by the RCMP; the Law Society of Saskatchewan and the Ministry of Justice Legal Services Task Team has implemented amendments to the Legal Profession Act, giving limited licenses to alternative legal service providers in the province; and lastly, Julie recently published an article on slaw.ca about the value of the NSRLP, some of the current and future aspirations of the project, and the need to ensure the permanence of our organization going forward.
For more related links and more on this episode, visit our website: https://representingyourselfcanada.com/were-only-human/
Jumping Off the Ivory Tower is produced and hosted by Julie Macfarlane and Dayna Cornwall; production and editing by Brauntë Petric; Other News produced and hosted by Ali Tejani; promotion by Moya McAlister and Ali Tejani.
