My Story
Meet Catherine
HI! I am Catherine Shearer, mom, wife, dog mom, wellness enthusiast, personal injury lawyer in Guelph, Ontario, and founder of theHappyLawyer.ca and the Happy Lawyer Podcast with Catherine Shearer .
I grew up in the City of Guelph having left only to go to law school and then spent the first few years of my career practicing in London, Ontario. In 2015, I returned to Guelph where I have been practicing ever since. Outside of practice I enjoy staying active, being outdoors, spending time with my family and enjoying the little things.
There have been ups and downs along my journey as a lawyer and I have spent considerable time, especially in my first few years of practice, questioning whether or not I wanted to be a lawyer. After taking a long deep look at why I felt the way I did I came to the realization that it wasn’t being a lawyer that I was unhappy with. It wasn’t the practice of law or the business of law I was unhappy with. I was unhappy because of the way I was practicing. So I changed it. I rewrote the narrative. I found balance. I found a way to practice that worked for me. And here I am now, an oxymoron if you look at the statistics, a happy lawyer.
Many young lawyers question their chosen profession. Many women leave the practice of law leaving women underrepresented at the top. Many suffer each and every day with crippling stress, anxiety, and depression. I have realized it doesn’t have to be that way and more importantly it shouldn’t be that way. So, I have created TheHappyLawyer.ca and the Happy Lawyer Podcast to shine some light on the serious mental health and attrition issues faced by the legal profession. If you take a look at the My Why page you will see the statistics. They are not good for us lawyers. Especially us women lawyers.
I have created this blog and podcast to get the discussion started. To let others know they are not alone in their struggles be it mental health or just questioning if they can do it all.