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.

LINDA SILVER DRANOFF is a family lawyer in private practice, with 30 years of experience at every level of court. She is also a writer, activist, speaker and lecturer, with a special interest in legal, community, women’s and law reform issues. She spearheaded the reform movement that culminated in Ontario’s Family Law Act 1986, was Chatelaine magazine’s legal columnist for 25 years, and wrote the bestselling Every Woman’s Guide to the Law and Women in Canadian Law. Linda Silver Dranoff lives in Toronto with her husband.

Linda Silver Dranoff's profile page

• Commended, The Hill Times' List of 100 Best Books of 2017
• Commended, TVO-The Agenda’s Year in Books as one of “2017’s most insightful conversations.”

Publishers Weekly
June 26, 2017

Dranoff, a trailblazing author (Every Woman’s Guide to the Law) and feminist lawyer, looks back on her busy career in this important overview of remarkable legal and social changes brought about by the Canadian women’s liberation movement. This personal record of relentless persistence in making the law more accessible to women while removing barriers regarding birth control, reproductive autonomy, custody and property rights, and equal pay for work of equal value is a welcome addition to the burgeoning written history of the women’s movement. This important record could have benefitted from and been streamlined by stronger editing. Written in a conversational style and occasionally relying on awkward phrasings that would be more at home in a personal diary, it often reads like a fleshed-out résumé, even listing the awards she received and media appearances she made in particular years. Nonetheless, Dranoff’s recounting of her early years of carving out a significant space in a male-dominated profession, her landmark work as a legal columnist for Chatelaine magazine, and the intersection of court work and political organizing serves as a critical reminder of how far Canadian women have come, as well as a warning to remain vigilant and safeguard hard-earned victories. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Fairly Equal is enjoyable to read: polished, concise and written in a conversational style with meticulous attention to detail."

Herizons

Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Fairly Equal" is very highly recommended, especially for community and academic library Women's Studies and Contemporary American Biography collections.

Midwest Book Review

Silver Dranoff's book resonates with the reader on two levels: as a personal memoir of a woman lawyer in a male dominated world, and as a historic account of the era of second wave feminism in Canada, marked by the revolution of women’s rights under the law.

Peel Briefs

Every father, mother and grandparent thinking about the perfect commencement gift to launch a young women upon her brilliant career, or at any stage of her journey, should gift this book.

Supreme Advocacy

... a critical reminder of how far Canadian women have come, as well as a warning to remain vigilant and safeguard hard-earned victories.

Publishers Weekly

Dranoff’s life provides a model for feminist lawyering that is not confined to the law office, fully engaged as she has been with trying to change so many conditions of inequality that have characterized the past few decades and still do.

Canadian Journal of Women and the Law