36 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
JUNE 2016
COVER STORY
ZENITH
AWARDS
CELEBRATING THOSE
WHO HAVE ADVANCED
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION
AND SOCIETY
ON JUNE 20TH,
the Lexpert Zenith Awards: Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion,
were held in Toronto. Winners came from law firms, academia, law societies, and
corporations. Several of these Winners know about barriers first-hand, while others
observed the lack of Diversity on a macro level and set out to reverse that. is is better
for the legal profession, certainly. But more importantly, it is better for our society's
attainment of justice. Here then, are this year's Lexpert Zenith Winners…
Renatta Austin
TORONTO
Renatta Austin is a University of Toronto
Law School graduate who operates a one-
woman law firm, specializing in adminis-
trative law, child and youth law, and crimi-
nal and quasi-criminal law. While at U
of T, she was a leader in the launch of See
Yourself Here, a program that encourages
young people from minority backgrounds
to pursue legal education. Today she is an
advocate for access to justice who repre-
sents mostly low-income clients. In order to
keep fees low, she started her firm operating
out of her home and the Great Library at
the Law Society of Upper Canada. A large
part of her work is in education, where
