Mental Health and the Legal Professional

Teresa Donnelly has been a lawyer with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General since 1994. As a Crown, Teresa has been dedicated to prosecutions involving violence against women and children – both domestic violence and sexual violence. As the West Region Sexual Violence Crown with the Ministry’s Sexual Violence Advisory Group, she is one of 7 full-time prosecutors in Ontario dedicated to enhancing the quality of sexual violence prosecutions and the victim’s experience in the criminal justice system. In addition, Teresa was elected as a Bencher with the Law Society of Ontario in 2015 and 2019. She was elected the Treasurer or President of the Law Society of Ontario from June 2020-June 2022. Teresa was the fifth woman Treasurer in the 223 year history of the Law Society of Ontario. As Treasurer her focus included the mental health of legal practitioners,
EDI, women in law, reconciliation, the competence and ethical responsibilities of lawyers and paralegals, and the important role that paralegals play in access to justice in Ontario. Teresa is the President of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and a faculty member of the National Criminal Law Program where she has presented on various topics including dangerous offenders, sexual violence, human trafficking, and ethics. With Beth Beattie, LSM, she co-Chairs the Law Society of Ontario’s Mental Health Summit that reaches thousands of legal practitioners each year. She is also the President of the South West Region Women’s Law Association in Ontario. A member of the Advocates Society and the Huron Law Association In June 2024, Teresa received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the Law Society of Ontario