Olympic Torch finds home at Davis LLP
Vancouver - The BC Court of Appeal delivered its decision November 13th on whether or not the female ski jumping event should be included in the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The Court ruled against inclusion, crushing the Olympic hopes of the skiers, but not their spirit. As a testament to the tremendous advocacy and support shown by the Davis team, the female ski jumpers offered an Olympic torch to their lawyers in a display of gratitude.
"I admire these young women tremendously," says Ross Clark, Q.C., litigation team leader. "It takes guts to stand up to an international organization and demand equality. These women knew they had been wronged and their courage never wavered."
Davis involvement began two years ago when Clark heard about the plight of the female ski jumpers through an American colleague. Intrigued, Clark approached the firm about taking on the case pro bono. The firm quickly put its support behind the female athletes and a lawsuit was launched.
"It was an exciting case to work on," says Jeffrey Horswill, another key lawyer on the case. "I think everyone was impressed with these women and the case certainly brought attention to the issue of gender equality in sports. We're not quite there yet but we are making progress."
Davis has a long tradition of taking on cases where justice and equality are at stake. One of the most significant battles for equality waged by Davis was the fight for justice for Japanese-Canadians who were interned during World War II and whose rights continued to be trampled by deportation orders handed down after the war's conclusion. This fight for justice ultimately resulted in a successfull settlement with government.
Davis LLP is proud of the impact this case will have on future Olympic events and of the lawyers who devoted their time to such a worthy cause. They are D. Ross Clark, Q.C., Jeffrey Horswill, Monika Gehlen, Morgan Burris, Duncan Shaw, Q.C., Karen Leung, Sheila Tucker, Rebecca R. von Rüti, Cynthia Millar, Tamara Hunter, Emma Ferguson, Ingrid Otto, Chris Bennett, Michael Carroll, Q.C., and Samuel Schwartz. A number of students also worked diligently on the case, including Heather Burgi, Dan Chapman, Ashley Cochrane, Tricia Daykin, Dmitry Shevalev, Steven Slazyk and Julia Staszewski.