Donna White
Jan 20, 2017
Donna White, Managing Partner of Osler’s Ottawa office, is helping pave the way for many young lawyers — particularly women — through her leadership and legal expertise, according to an article in Ottawa Life. Donna, who practises in Osler’s Intellectual Property Group, is featured by the publication as one of the top lawyers in Ottawa and has several decades of experience advising a wide range of clients, including global companies, entertainers and sports organizations. Donna attributes part of her success to Osler’s commitment to promoting diversity and equal opportunity, which is something she firmly believes in.
“Among our lawyers and staff we speak over 37 languages,” Donna tells Ottawa Life. “We are very committed and have always been supportive of many charities and local initiatives.”
Osler has taken a leading role in its diversity practices, having established a formal Diversity Committee in 2010 with a mandate to promote diversity and inclusion. Osler is also dedicated to the advancement of women and embraces the concept of women in the most senior leadership roles. The firm has had a female managing partner continuously for nearly 20 years, including Osler’s current Chief Executive, Dale Ponder.
In addition to being proud of her firm, Donna takes pride in her day-to-day work and says that she enjoys the variety of tasks she encounters every day.
“Every day is interesting even though I practice in a very narrow, niche practice area,” Donna tells Ottawa Life. “In the course of a given day I can be working on a file for a new brand of underwear, a new restaurant franchise, a fight between two cookie manufacturers or for a pharmaceutical company.
“So there’s a lot of variety in my day and I’m still not bored after all this time.”
Find out more by reading “Ottawa’s top female lawyers” on pages 15-16 of the February 2017 edition of Ottawa Life.