Donna Walwyn grew up fascinated by the complex rule structures that determined how society worked and how people interacted with one another.
She had no idea, as she entered university, that these curiosities would lead her to becoming a partner at Baker McKenzie’s Toronto office and head of the Pension and Employee Benefits Practice Group.
“I did my undergrad in philosophy, and shockingly, came to realize that it was not exactly the most sought-after degree,” she said with a smile and a touch of sarcasm.
“There was this folklore in my family that I was always supposed to be a lawyer, or a judge, and I completely dismissed it. But one of my brothers said, ‘You should go to law school, you’d love it,’ and he had just finished law school so I said, OK!”
She wrote the LSAT and attended law school at the University of Western Ontario where she just happened to take the very first course on pension law ever offered anywhere in Canada. It struck a chord.
“There are so many ways that people use their pension to resolve very real, everyday life issues that they have,” Donna said.
Pension discussions often arise when people are at their most vulnerable, whether it’s used as leverage in a separation negotiation or it helps cover the expense of a sudden illness after retirement.
“For our client’s plan members this is, ‘I’ve worked my entire life, this is a large part of how I’m going to support myself when I’m no longer working, and when I get to all of those big life moments this could be the thing that makes the difference,'” she said.
Across the wide range of clients that she advises, one issue that Donna sees on the horizon is whether or not employers are giving plan members adequate disclosure and educational tools when shifting the investment risk to the employee and, at retirement, when plan members are preparing to convert their capital accumulation plan balances to retirement income.
“While we haven’t seen it yet, I think we’re going to see situations where people come to retirement and say, ‘This is nowhere near what I thought I was going to have and part of the reason is that I made some really bad investment choices and you did nothing along the way to help me.’ Or, they haven’t been provided with the tools they need to successfully shift their retirement planning focus from accumulation to decumulation,” Donna said.
“I don’t think that it’s enough to just comply with your statutory obligations. The fiduciary responsibilities that you owe actually require you to constantly be assessing whether the information you’re disclosing is sufficient to allow your plan members to make the decisions they have to make…and if to the extent we see increased exposure to risk and litigation, that’s where it’s going to be. I think we’re just behind the cusp of that happening on the investment side.”
Outside the office, Donna devotes much of her time to furthering diversity in the legal world, something that’s near and dear to her. She’s the immediate past president of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers and remains on their board, and in 2016 she was recognized with the Lexpert Zenith Award which recognizes “those who demonstrate excellence, action and thought leadership that advance diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and society.”
“It was incredibly gratifying,” Donna said of the honour. “And the Firm’s reaction to the award was phenomenal. It got the same press, dinner and financial support that I would’ve received had I won ‘most recommended pension lawyer,’ and that really speaks to how the Firm views it.”
One of Donna’s personal initiatives is a program she’s developing with law schools across Ontario to attract more racialized students and ensure them a successful law school experience.
“This stuff is incredibly important because the way you look and the way you socialize shouldn’t be a barrier to success and everyone should feel free to express and incorporate the differences that make us who we are,” Donna said. “More importantly, you shouldn’t have to hide or cover any of that up.”
