96-year-old becomes first woman to receive B.C. Law Society lifetime achievement award

Victoria lawyer Constance Isherwood can already claim a number of firsts in a long career, and she's about to collect another: the B.C. Law society is recognizing her with a lifetime achievement award — the first ever given to a woman.

At age 96, Isherwood is British Columbia's oldest practicing lawyer. She says she is thrilled to be the first female to receive the award. 

"I wasn't aware of that, although I should have realized that in the past it has always been a man," she said. 

Although law hasn't always been a welcoming career for women, Isherwood says she experienced few barriers in getting established, partly because she started out at a firm where she had previously worked as a secretary. 

"I got to know the members at the firm, and the staff and more importantly the clients. And they got to know me. So when I graduated and returned and became a partner, I was welcomed back, and the clients just continued to come as they did before," she said.

"Getting a foothold at a firm and getting recognized is very important."

Last year UBC awarded her an honorary doctorate to go with the law degree she earned there in 1951, when she graduated top of her class and one of only eight women in a group of 200. 

Isherwood says she's gratified that so many have followed in her footsteps. 

"Now the number of female students in law either equals or exceeds men," she says. "I'm amazed at how the number of female law school graduates has grown." 

With files from Megan Thomas