TLA 7th Annual Women in Law: Your Money Mindset

For more than 135 years, the Toronto Lawyers' Association, located within the Courthouse Library, has represented the interests of lawyers practising in the City of Toronto. The association was founded to support its members in three key areas: Knowledge, Advocacy, and Community. To uphold these pillars, the association offers a year-round mix of online and in-person education programs for lawyers, hosts both free and paid events to foster in-person networking, and submits advocacy pieces on behalf of its members to the Ontario bench and bar, all levels of government, and the broader public.

Heather L. Hansen is a partner at McCarthy Hansen & Company LLP. She is a Certified Specialist (C.S.) in Family Law by the Law Society of Ontario, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Family Lawyers. Heather represents and advises clients on all issues related to divorce, spousal and child support, division of property, separation agreements, domestic/marriage contracts, religious marriage contracts, parenting issues, child protection, and cross-border/international family law issues (including Hague Convention matters). Heather has significant trial experience and appears at all levels of court across Ontario. She also represents clients in complex negotiations, mediation, and arbitration proceedings. A significant portion of her work involves advising high net worth clients. Heather enjoys working closely with family office advisors, corporate counsel, valuators, tax advisors and accountants at the complex intersection of family law and business.

Six years ago, Andrea Henry faced a life-altering moment when she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. While responding to emails from a hospital bed, she recognized that the relentless grind of entrepreneurship was unsustainable. Determined to create a life with more freedom and balance, Andrea embarked on a journey to build a business that supported her well-being rather than consumed it. During this journey, Andrea observed a key trait shared by her most successful clients: they leveraged their intellectual property (IP) to build scalable and resilient businesses. By creating valuable assets such as courses, systems, technologies, and proven methodologies, these entrepreneurs grew their businesses without sacrificing time for themselves or their families. With a background in commercial litigation, Andrea witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of failing to protect one’s business assets. Combining her legal expertise with her personal experience, she became passionate about helping entrepreneurs safeguard their businesses and scale sustainably through the strategic use of IP. Today, Andrea Henry is dedicated to helping business owners transform their expertise into protected, scalable assets. Her mission is to empower entrepreneurs to build businesses they love while reclaiming the time and freedom they deserve.

One of Canada’s leading litigators, Gillian is renowned for her empathy, fearless advocacy, and dedication to her clients. Gillian maintains a diverse civil litigation practice involving administrative and public law, professional liability (as preferred counsel for LAWPRO), health law, employment law, and general commercial litigation. Most notably, Gillian is one of Canada’s leading experts in gender-based violence and frequently takes on cases involving sexual assault, abuse, harassment, family violence, voyeurism and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. ​ Gillian argues cases before all levels of court across the country, including numerous appearances before the Supreme Court of Canada. She has also appeared before a variety of administrative tribunals and has been involved in numerous Coroner’s Inquests, most notably the Inquests into the deaths of Ashley Smith (2013) and Katelynn Sampson (2016). From 2021 to 2023, Gillian was honoured to serve as Senior Commission Counsel to Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission, leading the gender-based violence aspects of the Commission’s mandate. ​In addition to her skilled advocacy, Gillian frequently acts as a “neutral” by conducting complex workplace investigations, providing independent legal advice to professional regulators, training decision-makers, and mediating private disputes. She is particularly adept at managing complex stories and navigating high stakes emotional conflict. Clients trust her to offer advice that is both principled and pragmatic. ​ Gillian is actively involved in the profession and the community. She is frequently invited to speak at conferences and events and regularly contributes her expertise to mainstream and industry media. Passionate about gender equality, Gillian is the past Chair of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) and often consults on issues of equality, equity and diversity within the legal profession. She has acted pro bono in significant matters for both LEAF and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. In September 2023, Gillian was named one of “Canada’s 25 Most Influential Lawyers” by Canadian Lawyer magazine. In March 2020, Gillian was hailed as a “formidable champion of women’s civil rights” and presented with the Honsberger Award by the Toronto Lawyer’s Association in recognition of her advocacy skills, knowledge, and dedication to her community. In 2015, Gillian was named to Lexpert’s annual list of “Rising Stars: Leading Lawyers under 40”. For many years she has been ranked in Best Lawyers, Lexpert, and Benchmark Legal for her expertise in a remarkable range of areas, including public and administrative law, personal injury, employment law, corporate commercial litigation and health care law. Since 2022, Benchmark Legal has named her to its annual list of Top 100 Women Litigators in Canada.

Jackie Porter is an award-winning financial planner who has been in the financial industry for the past 25 years serving thousands of families, established businesses, and professionals in the Greater Toronto Area. Her practice focuses on cash flow management and tax planning strategies for small to medium-sized businesses who need someone at the table working on their behalf. She also helps professionals who are experiencing a life change and receive a settlement or severance package. Beside financial advising, she is a featured speaker and advocate for numerous corporate, professional and charitable organizations. She also co-authored “Single by Choice or Chance, the smart woman’s guide to living longer better” to help single women prepare better for their financial future. Raised by a single mom who was passed away when Jackie was in her teens led Jackie to learn important lessons about becoming financially independent very early in her life. She entered the financial industry as a second career after taking a package from a telecom company. Because Jackie had to become financially independent at such a young age she was hungry to learn the principles of real wealth and saw the profession as her golden opportunity. Jackie is now one of Canada’s most recognized financial planners. Her advice and financial strategies have been featured in top financial publications such as, Forum, Wealth Professional, Investment Executive The Star, and The Globe & Mail to name a few. Many have benefited from her sound and actionable financial advice offered at business conferences, radio interviews, podcasts and television programs such as Breakfast Television,The Agenda, CBC, Global News, CTV news and BNN. Jackie has also been awarded winner of the Mackenzie Investments Award for ‘Female Trailblazer of the Year’ category in the 2019 and 2021 Wealth Professionals awards, along with winning Advisor of the Year in 2023; making her a three time winner. She is happy to share her journey to creating a 7-figure net worth out of very humble beginnings.

Hina Khan is the Go-To Peak Performance Mindset Coach for CEO’s, Executives and Entrepreneurs. She is a former psychotherapist who combines her study of the human mind with spirituality. Hina has over two decades of experience, working with hundreds of people globally.

Areta practices estates and trusts litigation, with a particular focus on capacity litigation. She has experience with elder health law including medical assistance in dying. Areta is a strong, capable advocate for her clients. She is creative and unafraid to take on difficult cases. She successfully secured an unusual Mareva order freezing an absconding estate trustee’s undistributed inheritance from another estate in a different jurisdiction and had it paid into Ontario Court. She does the groundwork to ensure her clients get the orders they seek, such as a difficult to obtain order compelling a capacity assessment. She is known for her candid and tactful communication skills. Areta provides big picture analysis and strategic advice, resourceful and realistic solutions, and expert guidance throughout the litigation process.