The South Asian Bar Association of Toronto presented the first SABA Legal Awards at the SABA Annual Dinner on Wednesday, November 12, 2008.  These awards were instituted to recognize and promote outstanding contributions of South Asian members of the legal profession to the profession and the community at large. The Awards showcase the best and the brightest South Asians in the legal community, in addition to honouring the contributions and saluting the achievements of the award recipients.

Award Categories

The second SABA Legal Awards will be presented at the SABA Annual Dinner on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 in the following categories:

1. Lifetime Achievement
•  At least 20 years of practice as a lawyer (at least 10 of which must be in the Province of Ontario), or
•  At least 20 years of teaching experience in a University or college (with atleast 10 years of teaching experience in a University or college in Ontario).

2. Male Practitioner
•  At least 10 years of practice as a lawyer (at least 5 of which must be in the Province of Ontario), or
•  At least 10 years of teaching experience in a University or college (with at least 5 years of teaching experience in a University or college in Ontario).

3. Female Practitioner
•  At least 10 years of practice as a lawyer (at least 5 of which must be in the Province of Ontario), or
•  At least 10 years of teaching experience in a University or college (with at least 5 years of teaching experience in a University or college in Ontario).

4. Young Practitioner
•  Less than 10 years of practice as a lawyer (at least 2 of which must be in Ontario), or
•  Less than 10 years of teaching experience in a University or college (with at least 2 years of teaching experience in a University or college in Ontario).

SABA is actively soliciting nominations for the award categories listed above. Nominations are sought from individual, law firms, legal organizations, public bodies, corporate organizations and the non-profit sector.
Nominees for the various awards must meet the following criteria to be eligible for nomination unless a specific awards category provides an exception from the same:
•  Licensed to practice law in the Province of Ontario at the time of nomination;
•  A member in good standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada;
•  Of South Asian origin (South Asia constitutes the countries of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, Bhutan and Maldives. To be a person of South Asian origin for the purpose of these awards, a nominee must trace his/her ancestry from at least one of the countries listed above); and
•  Displayed a commitment to professional excellence and initiative in community involvement.


Nomination Procedure

Nominations should be submitted in the following manner:
•  All nominations should be sent in confidence to Puja Varma, South Asian Bar Association by email or by regular mail at the following addresses:

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or
Puja Varma
McMillan LLP
Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street, Suite 4400
Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2T3

•  Nominations must be accompanied by the name, address (postal and email) and phone number of the nominee, name of the nominee’s employer/business, professional status (i.e. practising lawyer, professor, non-practising lawyer) and year of call to the Bar of Ontario;
•  Nominations must be accompanied by the name, address (postal and email) and phone number of the nominator;
•  A brief biographical profile of the nominee (members of law firms or other organizations that maintain public biographical profiles may simply provide photocopies of such profiles).