Linda Silver Dranoff

Host, Lawyer, Writer & Activist

Linda Silver Dranoff, C.M., O. Ont., LSM is a lawyer, writer and activist. As a lawyer in private practise, she appeared at every level of court in a precedent-setting career, helping countless individuals navigate the legal system. As an author and columnist, she provided Canadians with access to accurate, understandable and empowering legal information throughout her 25-year stint as a columnist at Chatelaine and as the author of Women in Canadian Law (a history), Every Woman’s Guide to the Law, Every Canadian’s Guide to the Law and most recently, a memoir and history of the women’s movement Fairly Equal: Lawyering the Feminist Revolution.

As an activist, she has advanced the cause of equality and social justice for Canadian women, including spearheading the reform of Ontario family law to provide for the equal sharing of family assets. She was the founding chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Feminist Legal Analysis Section (now known as the Women Lawyers Forum) and has spoken widely on legal, community, women’s and law reform issues. Linda Silver Dranoff has been acknowledged for her achievements by the women’s community, the legal community, and beyond, receiving the Law Society Medal, the Governor-General’s Persons Award, the Toronto Y.W.C.A. Woman of Distinction honour, multiple awards from the Canadian and Ontario Bar Associations, the Women’s Law Association of Ontario President’s Award, recognition from University College at the University of Toronto as an Alumni of Influence, and in 2025 the Women in Law Leadership Rosalie Silberman Abella Award for lifetime achievement. She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2012, and the Order of Ontario in 2019.

Episodes

Resources

Fairly Equal: Conversation Toward a Feminist Future is inspired by Linda Silver Dranoff’s book Fairly Equal: Lawyering the Feminist Revolution.

Lawyer, activist, and former Chatelaine legal columnist Linda Silver Dranoff details her trailblazing journey from a traditional 1950s childhood to the battlegrounds of the courts of law and the halls of power where she and a generation of women lawyers, supporting a larger feminist movement, championed the rights of Canadian women and families. Through a combination of memoir and social history, Dranoff brings to life the struggles around family law, pay and employment equity, violence against women, abortion rights, childcare, pension rights, political engagement, public policy, and access to legal justice. From backroom battles to public and private protest, the stories are inspiring. We are encouraged in sisterhood and solidarity to ensure that the many hard-won gains of the feminist movement are maintained and expanded for the women who follow.