Law History Profiles

Claire Haaf is an Associate at Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation (“Whitelaw Twining”) in Vancouver. Her legal practice primarily focuses on personal injury litigation. Haaf has experience appearing before both the Provincial and Supreme Court of British Columbia. 

When Jeremy Dong was quite young, a family friend shared with him a story of his dad, Barry, acting on their behalf on a pro bono basis to help save their life savings. Barry would never tell such stories himself, but for Jeremy, these stories—where the law was used to make the world a little better—were great motivators for him. 

Millie Bojic graduated with a juris doctor in 2013, and completed a business law concentration through UBC Law’s Centre for Business Law. She has recently returned from Paris as head delegate and volunteer ambassador for the Young Diplomats of Canada. UBC Law caught up with her to learn about her important work in international diplomacy.

What have you been up to since you graduated in 2013?

The Allard School of Law is pleased to welcome Dr. Asha Kaushal, who recently joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track). Dr. Kaushal is an alumna of the Allard School of Law, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2013. She holds an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall and an LL.M. from Harvard, along with an M.Sc. in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics. 

Leah George-Wilson is a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (“TWN”) located in North Vancouver. She was the first woman to hold the office of Elected Chief for the TWN, a position she held from 2001-2003 and 2005–2009, and has been involved in the TWN for many years in various capacities. For instance, Ms. George-Wilson was a member of the TWN’s negotiating team in the British Columbia Treaty Process, TWN Self-Government Coordinator, and Director of the TWN Treaty, Land and Resources Department. 

Camille Chisholm is a graduate from the JD class of 2012 from the law school at UBC. Prior to attending law school she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UBC in 2007. She currently works as an Associate at Lawson Lundell LLP (“Lawson Lundell”) in the firm’s Litigation and Disputes Group. Her practice primarily focuses on commercial and real estate litigation and she has experience appearing before all levels of court in British Columbia. 

Derek Frenette is a Partner at Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP (“Alexander Holburn”). At Alexander Holburn, Frenette’s practice is largely litigation focused with a concentration in wills and estates, employment, and commercial law. Frenette works alongside numerous teams at Alexander Holburn, ranging from the Wills, Estates, and Trusts team to the Intellectual Property and Technology working group. Over the course of his practice Frenette has appeared before the British Columbia Supreme Court, the British Columbia Provincial Court, and a variety of administrative tribunals. 

Dr. Russo obtained his LLB, LLM and PhD degrees from the Peter A. Allard School of Law, where he is currently a Lecturer. His research has been primarily in the area of immigration and labour law and he has published several peer-reviewed articles in this field. He has also held previous teaching appointments at the law school, and has taught first-year Torts, Transnational Law and Public Law in the JD program, as well as Advanced Legal Research and Writing and subjects in the LLM CL and Distance Learning programs. Dr. Russo worked as a legal researcher before pursuing his LLM degree.

Angela Crimeni is an Associate at the Vancouver office of Stikeman Elliott LLP (“Stikeman Elliott”) in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. With extensive experience in litigation, Crimeni’s practice traverses many diverse areas of law ranging from employment agreements to securities regulation. She has appeared before all levels of court in British Columbia and also has experience with proceedings before the British Columbia Securities Commission. 

Brad Cocke is a Partner at Harris & Company LLP (“Harris”), a well-regarded labour and employment firm located in Vancouver. Cocke works with both public and private sector employers, addressing his clients’ needs in relation to a variety of legal matters involving labour law, employment law, and human rights law. 

Patricia Barkaskas is the Academic Director of the Allard School of Law (“Allard”) Indigenous Community Legal Clinic, and the incoming director of the Allard Judicial Externship Program. In addition to working closely with law students in these capacities, Barkaskas is a sole practitioner, practicing in the areas of child protection (as parent’s counsel) as well as criminal and family law.

Affectionately referred to as “aunty” amongst Indigenous students at the Allard School of Law, Dana-Lyn Mackenzie is the Associate Director of the Indigenous Legal Studies Program. Whether it’s advising Indigenous students on course selection, connecting students with alumni or advocating for the Indigenous community within the law school and the University, Dana-Lyn plays an important role amongst the Indigenous study body. Her efforts were recognized in the summer of 2016 with the prestigious President’s Staff Award for Advancing Diversity and Inclusion. 

Emigrating from Poland at the age of 9, Alice Davidson worked hard in her youth leading to a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University before graduating from the law school at UBC in the Class of 2011 from the JD Program. Prior to pursuing her legal education, Davidson worked as a Contracts Associate at Schneider Electric in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Jon Conlin is an alumnus of the Class of 2011 and graduate of the Business Law Concentration program. Originally from Vancouver, Conlin attended Washington State University where he received a BA in Political Science and played NCAA football for the Washington State Cougars. After graduation he began working for Fasken in Vancouver as a member of the Technology group. He currently works as a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions (M & A) team at Fasken with a focus on companies in the technology and health sciences sectors. 

Kyla Lee (JD ’11) is a criminal defence lawyer with Acumen Law Corporation in Vancouver, focusing on drinking and driving offences. Kyla hosts a podcast, Driving Law, which discusses current criminal law matters in BC and Canada. As well, Kyla generously supports one Allard School of Law student each year through the Kyla Lee Indigenous Law Students Award.

Dr. Carol Liao is an Assistant Professor at the Allard School of Law and the UBC Sauder Distinguished Scholar of the Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at the UBC Sauder School of Business. She is the Director of the Centre for Business Law, a leading national research centre that also oversees the Business Law Concentration and two experiential learning programs at Allard Law, the Business Law Clinic and Corporate Counsel Externship. Prior to joining UBC, Dr.

UBC alumnus Carlos Mendes has always loved beer. He has found a niche career, bringing together his love of the law and his love of beer. He talks about his work ... and his favourite beer. He is known as the "beer guy", being the only lawyer in B.C. who specializes in representing clients in our province’s craft beer industry. He also writes about the industry and beer in general on his blog, www.bcbeerlaw.com, and in various publications.

"Plus, I’ve been known to enjoy a beer or two, now and then," says Carlos.

For many third year law students, post-graduation plans are focused on obtaining an articling position in the Lower Mainland or securing a judicial internship. But for some students, the most interesting opportunities are in smaller, close-knit communities. When Ryan Scorgie graduated, he decided to leave Vancouver and return home to Kamloops.

A day in the life of an Executive Producer involves story meetings, conversations to decide what will be on that day’s news broadcasts, debates about how those stories will be reported, and the constant knowledge that a breaking story could change your day in an instant. As exciting as a last minute dash to a courthouse registry might be, it seems hard to imagine that a career in law could ever be as interesting as one in journalism. 

When Doug McLeod (JD ’09) was in his second year at the Allard School of Law, he accepted a summer student position in Toronto, Ontario. The born-and-raised British Columbian didn’t know a soul in the city. In fact, he had never set foot in Toronto until he had flown there for interviews earlier that week. Fast forward ten years and he now has a multitude of contacts, both professional and personal, an incredibly successful commercial litigation practice within Blakes, Cassels, & Graydon LLP, and legal experiences he wouldn’t have been able to access anywhere else.