Kindness, diversity and sustainability in a South Surrey lawyer’s practice was recognized Saturday (June 11) with the presentation of the 2022 Innovation Award.
Sara Forte is a local employment lawyer who founded Forte Workplace Law in 2016. Now, the firm has 10 lawyers with offices across B.C. and Alberta, and headquarters in South Surrey.
The firm was recognized by the Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch, for providing personalized, kind service to each client and showcasing stories of “happy lawyers” on a website called Not Your Average Law Job. Through the profiles, the project’s goal is to address mental-health issues and the lack of diversity in the profession by re-defining the role of a lawyer, an email to Peace Arch News from Forte explains.
Being a lawyer and a mother does not seem like a viable option to most, Forte says, however, as a mother of three, she is “delighted to dispel this myth.”
“I have had many high school students, law students and young lawyers tell me that this is their impression based on what they have seen and heard about legal careers at school and in the media, as recently as last week.”
Forte also wants to show younger people that it is possible to find meaning and happiness in a career as a lawyer, which is a concern she says many have. She is working to dispel this notion because young people are the future of law, Forte further states.
Aside from her career in law, Forte enjoys getting involved in the community in many other ways. She is the president of the board for Sources Community Wellness Society and a member of the South Surrey/White Rock Chamber of Commerce and Surrey Board of Trade.
“Within all of this, I have found my purpose. I am disrupting the legal profession, with kindness, to make it more inclusive and sustainable. I started Forte Workplace Law and Not Your Average Law Job – to show the world, and especially the future of our legal profession, that you can have a full and happy life that includes an awesome law practice,” Forte said.
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