Judging While Human: Leadership of Self, Ethics, and Resilience

This session invites students to move beyond familiar accounts of judicial leadership as expressed through decisions and constitutional doctrine, and instead explore the less visible, human dimensions of judging. Drawing on the realities of judicial work, including exposure to trauma and conflict, heavy caseloads, and the challenges of underrepresented litigants, this session will consider the “leadership of self” that judges must exercise daily through emotional awareness, ethical presence, and resilience.

Framed by the Ethical Principles for Judges, the discussion will consider how these ideals both guide and complicate the work of judging, raising questions about how to achieve adherence in practice. It will also explore how judges support one another through mentorship and education, and what space exists for collective or institutional leadership in responding to pressures on judicial independence and public trust. Through this lens, students are invited to reflect on judging as a legal function and as a deeply human practice.

Sign up here to attend in person!

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/judging-while-human-leadership-of-self-ethics-and-resilience-tickets-1986080260523?aff=oddtdtcreator