TORONTO— The Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute and Lexpert announced the 2017 Women’s Transformative Leadership Forum: Empowerment by Improving Participation and Representation and the Lexpert Zenith Awards celebrating Women in Law on June 22 in Toronto, and among those receiving awards was a face very familiar to the residents of Wiikwemkoong, Cherie Brant, daughter of Elaine Brant Hoy of Wiikwemkoong.
Ms. Brant, a member of the Tyendinaga Bay of Quinte Mohawks band in southern Ontario, joined the international firm of Dickenson Wright LLP just over three years ago, but since then her practice has more than doubled in size and she typically has 10 lawyers working with her as lead counsel.
In her Toronto office, Ms. Brant ranks among the top three most productive lawyers, having completed her first year as the only female equity partner. Ms. Brant also contributes to the marketing strategy, associates hiring committee, mentor program and the diversity committee. She is one of a handful of indigenous lawyers in Canada who has led complex commercial transactions on behalf of indigenous groups. She also acts for renewable energy proponents from Canada, the US and Europe, providing insight into indigenous legal issues and business partnerships.
The Lexpert Zenith Award follows a familiar trajectory for Ms. Brant, she was named in Lexpert’s Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers Under 40 in 2012, and in Lexpert’s Leading Lawyer Category, Energy Law, in 2014. She was nominated for the award, but then had to pass through a gauntlet of 20 legal experts to secure the award.
“This is a sort of mid-career award,” she noted, adding that the criteria for the award are largely based on her accomplishments in her career to date. She has been in practice for 20 years and the presentations, awards and articles she has published would fill several pages. She is one of 15 equity lawyers in a firm with 500 lawyers.
Despite all her accomplishments, the personable lawyer pronounced herself “happy and excited” to be receiving the Lexpert Zenith Award.
She had some words of encouragement for those young Anishinaabe who might be considering a career in law. “Being a lawyer can be very fulfilling,” she said. “You can help your community obtain its objectives and achieve long term economic stability, become independent and contribute to your community’s future growth.”
Ms. Brant knows it can be done. She has travelled the pathway to success and notes that it is a very productive time for up and coming Anishinaabe legal professionals. For Ms. Brant, it isn’t just a dream, it is her reality.
