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2023 TLA AWARD OF DISTINCTION RECIPIENT GLORIA EPSTEIN |
2024 TLA Award of Distinction Recipient - The Honourable Gloria J. Epstein K.C.
The Honourable Gloria J. Epstein K.C to receive the Toronto Lawyers’ Association Award of Distinction on February 29, 2024 at Ricarda’s in Toronto.
The Toronto Lawyers Association’s Award of Distinction is awarded each year to a Toronto lawyer who has a demonstrated record of excellence, and who has made an extraordinary contribution to the integrity and worth of the law and to the legal profession.
We are pleased to announce that The Honourable Gloria J. Epstein K.C will be the recipient of this prestigious award for 2024.
The Award will be bestowed on her at the TLA’s Awards Gala to be held on February 29, 2024 at Ricarda’s at 134 Peter Street.
In 1972 Justice Epstein received an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from Queens University. For the next few years, she owned and ran a fishing camp out the Camp Manito Hotel on an island in Northern Ontario after which she returned to Toronto to attend the University of Toronto law school. A self-admitted risk-taker, the northern business adventure served as one of several examples of her courage, tenacity and willingness to try new things, often under difficult circumstances.
Called to the Bar in 1979, Justice Epstein practised litigation in two large Toronto law firms before starting a firm of her own - one of the first Toronto-based firms led and owned by a woman.
She was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 1993 and to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2007. Throughout her judicial career, Justice Epstein presided over hundreds of cases, one of the most impactful being the landmark case known as M. v. H., the decision that paved the way for the recognition of same-sex marriage in Canada. While attracting personal criticism, she never doubted the legitimacy of the decision and saw it as the most challenging she ever wrote and ultimately caused over 1,000 laws in Canada to be rewritten.
While a trial judge, she was appointed by the Premier of Ontario to review the government’s involvement in the lives of the Dionne Quintuplets.
In 2018, Judge Epstein retired from the Court of Appeal, to accept an appointment from the Toronto Police Services Board to lead the Independent Civilian Review into Missing Person Investigations. She noted that this was a request she could not refuse, even if it meant leaving the Court of Appeal, which was a decision she found difficult.
The report Judge Epstein released in April 20, 2021 was received with universal acclaim. The Chief of the Toronto Police Service has publicly committed to ensuring the implementation of every one of the report’s 151 recommendations.
Judge Epstein has recently joined Arbitration Place to continue her career as a Mediator/Arbitrator.
Included among her community engagement, Judge Epstein founded the McMurtry Gardens of Justice, was Co-Chair of the Ontario Justice Education Network, Director of the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and a member of the Pathways National Board of Directors. Justice Epstein is now a member of the Sinai Health Foundation Board of Directors, the Smith School of Business Advisory Board, and the Ontario Water Centre Board of Directors.
In 2007, Judge Epstein received a University of Toronto Arbor Award for volunteerism, and in 2013 she received a YWCA Women of Distinction Award. She has also been recognized with three Honorary Doctorate degrees - from the Law Society of Ontario, the University of Toronto Law School and the Queen’s University Faculty of Law.
“Justice Epstein’s tireless service to her clients, the legal profession, and her community over many years has earned her iconic status in the eyes of the many who have benefited from her insights in others. She continues to be regarded nationally and globally as a conscientious advocate of life-long learning, justice, and family.” said Aitan Lerner, TLA President.
“Justice Epstein’s hard work, combined with her humility and a delightful sense of humour, will long inspire those in the legal profession wherever they are in their life or professional journey,” he added.