Article on Gender Inclusivity in Canadian Legal Writing and Style Guides

The blog of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries has republished an article entitled Gender Inclusivity in Canadian Legal Writing and Style Guides by association member Dominique Garingan.

It was originally published on the website Notes Between Us on June 22, 2022.

"While there seems to be a growing acceptance towards gender inclusive and non-binary pronouns, this post seeks to explore an increasingly acknowledged yet still seemingly paradoxical entity in legal writing: the singular they. This post briefly investigates the use and acceptance or lack thereof of they as a singular pronoun through a review of a limited sample of Canadian legal research, writing, and style guides accessible to the writer. Although current writing practices on gender inclusivity may have since changed since the publication of these titles, this post hopes to assist writers, researchers, librarians, and information professionals by providing a non-exhaustive point-in-time review of Canadian legal writing references and help facilitate a turning point in the journey towards greater inclusivity in legal writing."

 Garingan is the Library Manager in the Calgary office of the law firm Parlee McLaws LLP.