The Law-Love-Life Balancing Act of Viola Vivian DeBeck McCrossan

In: Canadian journal of women and the law: Revue juridique "La femme et le droit", Band 29, Heft 1, S. 1-35

Abstract

In 1915, three years after legislation was passed forcing the Law Society of British Columbia to admit women, Viola Vivian DeBeck enrolled in articles. She was the fourth woman to do so. Her principal was her brother's law partner. Thirty-eight years later in 1953, after marriage, children, the death of her husband, and articling for two more principals, she was called and admitted to the bar as Viola Vivian DeBeck McCrossan. She then practised continuously from her call until her death in 1980. This article explores McCrossan's pioneering pathway into law and the evolution of her balancing act among law, love, and life.