At this year’s Law Society Awards Gala on May 22, a pair of Law’93 classmates – Frank Walwyn and Pamela Cross – will be among the province’s legal professionals recognized for their demonstrated outstanding achievements and exemplary commitment to service. 

Black legal community trailblazer to receive Law Society Medal

Frank Walwyn, WeirFoulds LLP’s first Black lawyer and partner, is renowned as one of Canada’s top commercial litigators. He takes a resourceful approach to litigating some of the most challenging business cases in this country and in the Caribbean, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Throughout his entire career, he has also made invaluable contributions to the legal profession as a whole by championing equity and diversity in it. He advocates for more minorities in law; mentors countless students and young lawyers of colour; serves on the board of Community Legal Education Ontario, is a past member of the Ontario Court of Justice’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee, and is a past (and the longest-serving) President of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. 

At Queen’s Law, he is a member of the Dean’s Council, serving as a key strategic advisor. He played a key leadership role in creating the Robert Sutherland Fellowship to support students from the Caribbean pursue graduate law degrees at Queen’s, has participated on numerous panels for JD students, and is a much-appreciated mentor to members of the Black Law Students’ Association of Canada – Queen’s chapter. 

His notable awards include the Ontario Bar Association Award for Distinguished Service (2016), a Lexpert Zenith Award for advancing diversity and inclusion (2016), the LSO’s Lincoln Alexander Award for long-standing community service (2013), and a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award for significant achievements (2012). In 2018, Canadian Lawyer magazine named him one of the Top 25 Most Influential in the justice system and legal profession. 

Tomorrow evening, he will be awarded a Law Society Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the Law Society of Ontario. 

“Being selected to receive the Law Society Medal is awesome – in the sense of extremely daunting,” says Walwyn. “To be selected from among 52,000 lawyers for an award of this nature at this stage of my career is an honour, but the responsibility it carries with it is profound. The realization that the standard at which I practise for the remainder of my career must always reflect the ideals for which the medal stands is a humbling one, but it is a responsibility I am honoured to accept.”  

Women’s equality champion to be saluted as a leader for legal justice and fairness 

Pamela Cross, is the Legal Director for Luke’s Place, a centre for change devoted solely to improving the safety and experience of abused women and their children in the Durham, Ontario, region as they proceed through the family law process. In 2008, her first research project was published for the organization, establishing it as a provincial leader. Over the past decade, she has trained Family Court Support Workers and Legal Aid Ontario lawyers and staff; helped develop a Virtual Legal Clinic for women in northern and rural communities; conducted research on family violence screening tools for family law practitioners; and built and launched an online course for lawyers on working with clients leaving abusive relationships. 

Advocating for women in these situations is what she had dedicated her career to. For over 25 years, the LSO cites, she has worked tirelessly as a lawyer, researcher, teacher, writer, public speaker, mentor, trainer and activist, to explain and challenge how the law addresses individualized and systemic violence against girls and women, especially in the family law context.

Of particular note, she served as Chair of Ontario’s Violence Against Women Roundtable and was a witness before the House of Commons Justice and Human Rights Standing Committee on Bill C-78, which proposes changes to the Divorce Act.

“The work I do is inspired by the countless women in this country who are subjected to misogynist violence and abuse and have the courage to say ‘no more’,” says Cross. “It is made possible by the frontline workers who provide tireless support to those women. These are the voices we need to listen to if we are to change the law from a weapon used against women into a tool women can use to empower themselves.” 

She will receive the 2019 Laura Legge Award given to a woman lawyer from Ontario for exemplifying leadership within the profession. 

Congratulations to Frank Walwyn and Pamela Cross!

By Lisa Graham