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Vera Parsons ’24 (1889-1973)
Vera Parsons was the first female criminal defence lawyer in Ontario, likely the first woman to appear before judge and jury, and the first to defend an accused murderer. A great fan of litigation work, especially at the appellate level, Parsons practised criminal law at a time when it was seen as particularly unsuitable to women. Parsons, the daughter of a Simpson’s department store executive, was a highly educated woman, holding a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in Comparative Languages from Bryn Mawr College. In 1924, she graduated from Osgoode and became the first woman whose academic accomplishments earned her the Osgoode Silver Medal. Parsons was also one of the first female lawyers in Canada with a disability, requiring a cane after having contracted polio as a child. In 1944, she became only the third woman to be named King’s Counsel.
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1923 - A New Era
John Delatre Falconbridge (1875-1968) is appointed the Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School. Falconbridge would serve as Dean for twenty-five years, and is second only to Newman Wright Hoyles, who served for twenty-nine years. This is the 1926-1927 Osgoode Hall Student Directory and Handbook. The names, phone numbers (only four digits long), addresses, and articling firms of students were listed in the back.
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Helen A. Kinnear ’20 (1894-1970)
Described as generous and self-effacing, Port Colborne native Helen Kinnear was the first federally appointed woman judge in Canada. Before attending Osgoode Hall Law School, she received a BA from the University of Toronto in English and History. She set up practice with her father and participated in numerous Liberal political associations. She was even nominated to run as a federal candidate but declined. Kinnear was the first woman to plead a case in the Supreme Court of Ontario, the first woman to be appointed a King’s Counsel in the British Commonwealth (1934), until finally she became the county court judge for Haldimand. She also served on the Council of the Canadian Bar Association, was the honorary president of the Women’s Law Association of Ontario, and was appointed by the Province of Ontario as a member of the Minister’s Advisory Council on the Treatment of the Offender. In 1965, she became the first woman to receive a medal from the John Howard Society of Ontario in recognition of her contributions to the profession and concern for the rights of the offender.
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1920 - A “Portia” Made Good
A second summer session is held for returning veterans. Convocation then suspends the veterans’ blanket exemption, stating that sufficient time had elapsed for veterans to seek to benefit from their service. Helen Kinnear, the first woman in the British Commonwealth to be appointed King’s Counsel, and John Robert Cartwright, future Chief Justice of Canada, graduate.
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