‘A FORUM FOR DISCUSSION’ AND A PLACE OF RESPITE: JEWISH LAWYERS AND TORONTO’S READING LAW CLUB

This article considers the history of the Reading Law Club, which Toronto’s Jewish lawyers established in 1947 in response to the exclusion of Jews from membership in the Lawyers Club of Toronto. It also discusses the Lady Reading Club, an association of the wives of Jewish lawyers that continued af...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sophia Sperdakos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Windsor 2012-10-01
Series:Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice
Online Access:http://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/WYAJ/article/view/4374
Description
Summary:This article considers the history of the Reading Law Club, which Toronto’s Jewish lawyers established in 1947 in response to the exclusion of Jews from membership in the Lawyers Club of Toronto. It also discusses the Lady Reading Club, an association of the wives of Jewish lawyers that continued after the men’s club disbanded in the mid-1960s. The article explores the social and legal context in which the Clubs were established and the perseverance of Jewish lawyers in the face of Canadian society’s and the “elite” legal community’s efforts to exclude and marginalize them. The author also highlights the importance of community to Jewish lawyers’ success. Dans le présent article, l’auteure se penche sur l’histoire du Reading Law Club, que les avocats juifs de Toronto ont fondé en 1947 après avoir été exclus du Lawyers Club de Toronto. L’auteure discute en outre du Lady Reading Club, l’association des épouses des avocats juifs, qui a poursuivi ses activités après la dissolution du club masculin au milieu des années 60. L’article aborde les contextes juridique et social dans lesquels ces clubs ont vu le jour et la persévérance des avocats juifs face aux tentatives de la société canadienne et de l’« élite » de la communauté juridique de les exclure et de les marginaliser. L’auteure fait également ressortir l’importance de la collectivité dans le succès des avocats juifs.
ISSN:0710-0841