Celebrating Black History Month: A Chat with Kayla Smith of Cassels on Access to the Profession, Tackling the “Pipeline Issue”, Representation, and Effective Allyship

In this episode, Chris Horkins sits down with his colleague Kayla Smith, a TAS member committed to making a difference for aspiring young Black lawyers in Canada. They discuss Kayla’s involvement in various initiatives and tackling the “pipeline” issue for increasing diversity in the legal profession. They touch on the importance of representation, including the recent historic appointment of Chief Justice Michael H. Tulloch, Ontario’s first Black Chief Justice, and explore effective allyship and how lawyers and firms can support and be allies to their Black colleagues.
Kayla Smith is a litigation associate at Cassels Brock and Blackwell LLP in Toronto with a broad commercial litigation practice. Kayla was called to the bar in 2021 and received her JD from the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, where she graduated as the Valedictorian of the Class of 2020. During law school, Kayla was an Executive Member of the Black Law Students’ Association of Canada. Kayla is an advocate for increasing access to legal education for Black students in Canada. She is the founder of the Lloyd Dean Moot, an oral advocacy competition geared to support undergraduate students with an interest in the law, and the JD Bridges Foundation, a non-profit aimed at providing financial support and mentorship to Black students in the law school application process.
Chris Horkins is a partner in the Litigation Group at Cassels Brock and Blackwell LLP. His broad commercial litigation practice includes expertise in franchise law, product liability, securities litigation, and class actions. Chris is a member of the 10+ Standing Committee of The Advocates’ Society.
Land Acknowledgement
The Advocates’ Society acknowledges that our offices, located in Toronto, are on the customary and traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinabek, the Huron-Wendat and now home to many First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples. We acknowledge current treaty holders, the Mississaugas of the Credit and honour their long history of welcoming many nations to this territory.
While The Advocates’ Society is based in Toronto, we are a national organization with Directors and members located across Canada in the treaty and traditional territories of many Indigenous Peoples. We encourage our members to reflect upon their relationships with the Indigenous Peoples in these territories, and the history of the land on which they live and work.
We acknowledge the devastating impacts of colonization, including the history of residential schools, for many Indigenous peoples, families, and communities and commit to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in an informed legal profession in Canada and within The Advocates’ Society.