Grace Westcott attended the University of Toronto, receiving her BA with great distinction in 1981, and her LLB with honours in the same year. She obtained her LLM from Columbia University School of Law in the City of New York in 1984, where she studied intellectual property, constitutional law and legal philosophy. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1983.

Ms. Westcott has a commercial law practice focusing on copyright, media and the cultural industries. She acts for a number of trade associations and organizations in the those industries, as well as for a corporate and individual clientele in book publishing, digital publishing, music recording, film and television production, and collective management of copyright.

Prior to commencing her own practice, Ms. Westcott was a partner in the firm of Cassels Brock & Blackwell. Her background includes extensive experience in general corporate practice.

She has acted since 1996 as the Executive Secretary of the Canadian Copyright Institute, on whose behalf she has been heavily involved in matters of copyright reform and member education. She is the author of numerous articles on copyright matters and is the editor of a reporting service on Canadian copyright reform. Ms. Westcott writes and speaks frequently on copyright issues.