Sarah Turney: How Adversity Fueled Her Path to Becoming a Successful Lawyer

SARAH TURNEY grew up in London, Ontario oscillating between working poor and just poor, using a food bank, navigating real instability at home, and never once imagining she would become a lawyer.Sarah Turney is a partner at Fasken, one of Canada's largest law firms, where she heads up the real estate and property litigation practice, a niche she built from the ground up. In 2024, she argued and won a 5-4 decision at the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of a Toronto family whose backyard the City of Toronto claimed was public parkland, a case that had been denied, appealed, and lost twice before she took it all the way to the country's highest court.She explains: ◼ What it was like growing up with parents who struggled with addiction and how that instability became the fuel that drove her forward ◼ Why she was so afraid of being rejected from law school that she did a master's degree first just to avoid applying ◼ How she worked full-time at a community center while attending law school full-time, up at 5AM, working until 10PM, for three years straight ◼ What the Supreme Court case was actually about, a Toronto family whose backyard sat on city parkland since 1971, and what a 5-4 decision really means for advocacy ◼ Why coming from nothing gave her skills that no law firm could teach, and what she'd say to young women afraid to apply to law school ◼ Why she still sometimes passes someone on the street and wonders: could that have been me?FOLLOW JORDANAINSTAGRAM: jordanagoldlistWEBSITE: www.jhgcriminallaw.com