Law History Profiles
Displaying 81 - 100 of 510
It was a trip to South Africa through the CBA's Young Lawyers International Program in 2008 that led Roanna Tay to a career in protecting refugee rights. The eight-month internship program, which had Roanna working in South Africa's Legal Resources Centre (LRC), opened her eyes to some of the critical issues faced by refugees.
For Christopher Ellett, the Panama Papers were not necessarily the bombshell they have been made out to be in the media. “A smaller disclosure a few years ago made it clear that the banking laws of many tax havens facilitated tax evasion,” he says, adding that “aside from the specific individuals involved, which are still being identified, I don’t think the Panama Papers revealed any great surprises.” Ellet recently graduated from the Peter A Allard School of Law with an LLM in Taxation, and currently works as a barrister and solicitor at Moodys Gartner Tax Law in Calgary.
Cheryl D’Sa, a civil litigator and the managing partner of Narwal Litigation LLP, became an elected Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia in May 2020. She was the first visible minority female President of the Vancouver Bar Association and in 2019, Business in Vancouver named her one of the Top Forty under 40. She devotes her practice primarily to plaintiff personal injury and has appeared in all levels of Court in British Columbia.
Morgan Troke graduated from the law school at UBC in the LLB Program with the Class of 2007. Prior to attending law school, Troke obtained a Bachelor of Science in Computing Science from the University of Alberta in 2002. He was called to the British Columbia Bar in 2008 and joined McCarthy-Tétrault LLP (“McCarthy Tétrault”) in the same year, working out of the Vancouver office. Troke was named Partner in 2016 at McCarthy Tétrault and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 2018.
Prior to pursuing her LLB, Megan Kammerer attended the University of Alberta where she completed a BA majoring in English and minoring in Women’s Studies. After attending law school, Ms. Kammerer pursued a Masters of Law Programme in Public International Law at the University of Cambridge as a Chevening Scholar.
In law school, Ms. Kammerer was involved in the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies. She recalls professors who taught her not only what the law is, but “what the law should be.”
Catherine Chow is a self-proclaimed planner, and becoming a lawyer was always on the agenda.
“I knew I wanted to be a lawyer ever since I was a young child,” she said. “I wanted to help the underdog at the playground, and maybe perhaps being an immigrant woman of colour, I wanted to help the disadvantaged, which I felt was myself at the time, but also could see the plight of others.”
“One recurring theme amongst many historical and contemporary figures who inspired me was that they were all lawyers,” says Allard Law alum Vivian Kung. “I thought that a legal background would be extremely helpful to me regardless of the career I ultimately pursued.”
Sarah Batut is a graduate of the LLB Class of 2006 from the law school at UBC. Prior to law school, Batut obtained a Bachelor of Science in Animal Biology from UBC in 2002. She joined Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (“Fasken”) in 2006. She is currently a Partner in the Real Estate group at Fasken’s Vancouver office.
Ian Balfour was a Paralympic athlete and the law school's Class Valedictorian in 2006, walking away with four scholarships.
An inductee of the Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Lethbridge, Alberta, he is also a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a Team VISA Mentor/Ambassador, mentoring Olympic and Paralympic athletes since 2005. “This ambassadorship has allowed me to help younger athletes,” says Balfour, “and athletes who are going through the same issues I went through.”
Michelle Quigg is the Roster Coordinator for Access Pro Bono and an immigration lawyer whose most recent work has been with stateless clients. She is passionate about increasing access to justice, particularly as it relates to helping individuals who have fallen through the cracks of Canada’s immigration, refugee and citizenship system. She provides pro bono services to individuals and to Battered Women Support Services (BWSS). Together with her husband, Michelle has two wonderful children.
What inspired you to go to law school?
Lisa Mackie is a Partner at Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP (“Alexander Holburn”), working as the leader for the firm’s Strata Property Practice Group. She also is a member of the firm’s Insurance and Real Estate practice groups, lending her expertise on real estate, residential tenancies, and strata agreements. She also chairs the Women’s Forum at Alexander Holburn which promotes business development and networking opportunities for women, particularly lawyers, paralegals, and clients.
Born in Victoria in 1968, Peter D. Whyte was a child of immigrants. His formative years were spent in a West Vancouver household which was never quite stereotypically Canadian, yet was not stereotypically anything else either. He did not learn to play hockey, but instead became a tennis ace. He was exposed early to the delights and the burdens of excruciatingly correct English grammar which, as we will discuss below, has found its way into his formal writing style. Oh, the things up with which he had to put! Does one yet detect a vestigial British lilt in his occasional word?
Hollis Bromley is a Partner at Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP (“Alexander Holburn”), where she is currently a member of the Insurance practice group. Bromley’s own practice has a litigation focus with expertise in both insurance defense and coverage. She largely represents insurers in a variety of capacities and has similarly aided out of province motor vehicle insurers with both representation and legal advice.
Lana Shipley is a Partner at the Vancouver office of Lawson Lundell LLP (“Lawson Lundell”). Her law practice involves both commercial and corporate law with a specific focus on Indigenous, environmental, and energy issues. She represents a wide range of clients and frequently deals with a variety of regulatory bodies. Regarding Indigenous law, Shipley regularly assists clients in the negotiation of impact benefit agreements and similar instruments.
“I think of myself as being a left-leaning feminist of Aboriginal heritage,” says Amber Prince. “My philosophies are in line with Atira’s and my outlook informs all of my work with women.” Although she was not aware that this type of work existed when she was a law student, she grew into it with the help of her colleagues. Halfway through her master’s program, she was offered the position of Legal Advocate for Atira. She accepted.
Agnes Huang, an activist and journalist who has devoted her career to date to championing the causes of women refugees and women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, served as lay counsel for a number of refugee women before deciding she needed an insider’s perspective on the system she was trying to beat.
Lisa Kerr graduated from UBC in 2005. She is currently completing her doctorate at New York University and is planning to become a law professor. We caught up with Lisa in May 2014 to learn more about her, her research, and her time as a law student at UBC.
What is your research on?
Holman Wang graduated from UBC in 2005. After working in the legal profession for seven years, he left to pursue his true passion: creating children's books. He and his brother are artists who help visualize literary classics with needle-felt figures. The classics are reduced to 12-words so that parents can share their favourite works with their young children. We recently caught up with Holman to learn more about him, his business, and his time as a law student at UBC.
Why did you get into this unique line of work?
Sanjeeta Johal graduated with LLB class of 2005 from the law school at UBC. She currently works as an Associate at Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation (“Whitelaw Twining”). Her legal practice primarily focuses on personal injury law. With extensive litigation experience, Johal has appeared before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the British Columbia Provincial Court and the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal.