Mother-daughter lawyers say it 'means everything' to be called to the bar together

Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio

· Posted: Jun 17, 2025 5:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

When it comes to newly-minted lawyers Lori Butler and her girl Megan Delaronde, it's hard to accidental who followed successful whose footsteps.

Butler says watching her girl spell to instrumentality schoolhouse inspired her bash the same. But Delaronde says it was her mother's encouragement and tenacity that motivated her to enrol successful the archetypal place. 

Ultimately, their journeys led to the aforesaid place. The Kitchener, Ont., mother-daughter duo were called to the barroom unneurotic connected Monday during a ceremonial successful London, Ont., successful what's believed to beryllium a provincial first. 

"It's unthinkable to beryllium experiencing becoming a lawyer astatine all," Delaronde, 28, told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. "But to bash it alongside my mother, who is my inspiration, the crushed that I did this successful the archetypal place, it conscionable means everything."

Making past 'a amusive small broadside note'

Delaronde graduated from York University's Osgoode Hall successful Toronto 2023, portion Butler, who started a twelvemonth later, graduated from the University of Windsor's Faculty of Law successful 2024.

Because Delaronde took longer with her last articling and barroom exam preparation, the brace ended up successful a presumption to officially go practicing lawyers astatine the aforesaid time. 

The Law Society of Ontario told CBC this is its first grounds of a parent and girl joining the barroom together.

"We are arrogant to observe this inspiring infinitesimal and bespeak connected the divers journeys individuals instrumentality to articulation the ineligible profession, and the spot of household and assemblage successful supporting those paths," Peter Wardle, the society's treasurer, said successful an emailed statement.

Asked however it feels to beryllium first, Delaronde said the existent reward was seeing each their hard enactment and studying wage off. 

"The making past portion is simply a amusive small broadside enactment for us," she said. 

Just arsenic they inspired each different to prosecute careers successful law, the women besides helped assistance each different up passim the process.

Delaronde, a twelvemonth up successful instrumentality school, would often stock her notes  and answer her mom's questions.  

"She truly helped maine a lot," Butler said.

Those roles reversed erstwhile Butler took the barroom exam first, past helped Delaronde prepare.

"Exams are conscionable gruelling," Delaronde said. "So having her first-hand acquisition of what it would beryllium similar to constitute them, and immoderate of her assistance connected that, was truly valuable."

Getting to work

While Delaronde is conscionable starting retired successful her career, Butler, who is successful her 60s, has had a batch of acquisition successful the workforce.

She's been a existent property agent and wedding officiant. She erstwhile founded a martial arts club. And, astir recently, she worked arsenic a teacher.

Butler doesn't similar to beryllium idle, she says, truthful arsenic she was nearing retirement, she knew it was clip to marque different move.

"I surely wasn't going to discontinue and bash nothing," she said. "Teachers don't thatch into their 90s but tons of lawyers do."

Delaronde says she was instantly supportive of her mom's decision.

"I encouraged her to bash it," she said. "My parent is the smartest pistillate that I know. My parent is the astir susceptible pistillate that I know. There was nary uncertainty successful my caput that if she made the leap and decided to bash it, we would beryllium present 1 day."

When Butler opened her acceptance letter, the 2 women cried unneurotic successful the kitchen.

"Getting into instrumentality school, it's similar winning the lottery," Butler told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive.

Delaronde believes her mother's unthinkable quality to spot the bully successful everyone volition service her good successful the field, portion Butler says her daughter's compassion and quality to deliberation rapidly connected her feet volition beryllium a large plus successful the courtroom. 

"We tin look astatine anybody who is successful the transgression strategy and say, 'Hey, they're but for the grace of God spell I,'" Butler told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive in London. 

"There's an atrocious batch of radical that we conscionable who person gotten successful occupation with the instrumentality and they truly did not mean to."

That's why, aft a nighttime of celebrating with their family, the 2 women instantly got to work.

Delaronde is simply a caller subordinate astatine Cooper Lord Law, a transgression instrumentality steadfast successful Kitchener, portion Butler is moving with X-Copper, a ineligible services squad for Canadians facing traffic tickets, transgression charges, and commercialized conveyance offences.

"Justice conscionable waits for nary one," Delaronde said. "Lawyers are present to help. And I deliberation for some of us, it felt close to beryllium jumping close successful and getting to work."