For the month of February, we like to profile a couple that met in law school. This month we are profiling Shirley Nakata (LLB 1988) and Richard Hart (LLB 1988) who were drawn to one another by shared interests in Japanese culture and social justice issues. Both Shirley and Richard began by practicing law but built their careers fostering better, more equitable and respectful work environments.
1. Tell us about how you met at law school. Was it love at first sight?!
You will hear two very different answers on this one. Let’s just say that we didn’t connect in first year but became fast friends when we met at the start of second year, discovering along the way that we shared some common interests (Japanese culture – mine in classical dance, his in karate) and experiencing as well those weird “it’s a small world” kind of moments when realizing that we shared common friends and acquaintances.
2. What aspects of law school brought you closer together? (Were you in the same section, the same class or the same club?)
We did end up having some classes together in our second and third years, including Business Transactions, Japanese Law and Admin Law – which benefitted Richard significantly, given Shirley’s superior note-taking skills and cans. We were both also interested in social justice issues; with Shirley’s involvement in the Law School’s Women’s Committee, we had lots (and lots) of wonderfully challenging conversations that ultimately resulted in her successful conversion of Richard to radical feminism. Probably more than anything, though, we were brought together by the sheer intensity of the law school experience, both the incredibly stressful times and equally the joyous and exciting ones -- we felt exceedingly fortunate in being able to share those times and grow through them with each other, side by side. That experience provided the ground for our relationship. We also had a wonderful group of friends surrounding us – people we met at law school, at PLTC, and during articles, many of who remain our closest friends.
3. Shirley, after graduating, you transitioned quite quickly away from a traditional law practice to work with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and then the BC College of Teachers. Could you tell us more about your journey and what drew you to these various positions?
I went into law school firmly believing that I would never practice law, that a legal education was the foundational piece I needed to do the kind of socially positive and public interest work I wanted to do. But inside the three-year program, it was easy to slide into the frenzy of the articling placement process and once I got articles, then to accept the offer to stay on as an associate. After a few years of practicing as a litigator it was obvious to me that my heart lay elsewhere and I joined the Canadian Human Rights Commission as a Human Rights Officer. It was rejuvenating to be able to speak and work in the language and framework of human rights. After about five years there, I decided to take a risk and accepted a one-year contract position with the BC College of Teachers, then the self-regulatory body for the teaching profession. By this time, Richard and I had just bought a house, had an 8-month-old baby and Richard was working as a sole practitioner. The contract position turned into a 13-year career in professional regulation and one of the best professional experiences I have had. Working to protect the public interest, in the context of children in the K-12 system, and putting the principles of admin law into action were in perfect balance. All in all, my career journey is based on the professional and personal growth that started at law school.
4. Richard, you stayed in private practice for 15 years before transitioning into your current role as an organizational consultant with ProActive ReSolutions. How did your experience and skillset as a lawyer prepare you for this new career? What is the best part of your job? What has been the most surprising aspect of your current role?
I definitely believe that I owe my current career to the education, experience and skills I gained as a lawyer in private practice.
After I was called to the bar, I practiced litigation, mediation and arbitration. I enjoyed exposure to a wide range of cases, though most of my practice focused on corporate, employment and matrimonial legal issues. Along the way I had the privilege of learning both about interest-based processes from some fantastic mentors in Canada, most notably from BC’s Gord Sloan, and about restorative and transformative practices from Australia’s John McDonald.
In 2000, I co-founded ProActive with five other people from diverse professional backgrounds to help organizations deal with the complex challenges associated with managing workplace culture, behaviour and relationships. Our aspiration was, and remains, to provide organizations with a truly multi-disciplinary approach to preventing and managing conflict, supported by a range of empirically validated processes. ProActive has from the start been an international micro-business, with operations and team members in Australia, the USA and Canada, and over the years we’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse range of clients from across the globe. We’ve been doing some work with universities, here in Canada and Australia, and it’s been an amazing experience learning about how conflict manifests (and persists) in the higher education setting.
The most gratifying part of my job is when we get feedback that we’ve had a real impact on the lives of individuals, teams and even organizations. While in some ways all of this can sound very far from my previous career as a lawyer in private practice, I don’t know how I would have stumbled my way into my current career if it hadn’t been for my experiences in law and the relationships I formed over that period, all of which I believe allow me to contribute more value to my clients than I would otherwise have been able to.
5. Shirley, you have now been the Ombudsperson at UBC for the past ten years. How did your legal training prepare you for this position? What has been the most interesting aspect of your work? What has been the most challenging aspect of your work?
Ombuds practice in Canada is based on fairness so my legal education and training are absolutely critical in my ability to deliver the Office’s mandate. In addition, starting my professional career in law prepared me in ways I didn’t anticipate: managing high and prolonged stress, juggling tight and multiple deadlines, dealing with strong personalities and a range of behaviours, long hours, and navigating ambiguity! It helped to build my confidence and my toolkit to work in new and different environments, with their unique cultures and power structures.
Both the most interesting and most challenging part of my work as Ombuds is in advancing a model of fairness that is legally sound and consistent with and supports the university’s strategic commitments and core values. For me that requires a multi-disciplinary approach to fairness that includes law, and also disciplines like neuroscience, sociology, and psychology. It’s been particularly satisfying to meet so many students, faculty and staff with whom I have been able to build relationships and have amazing conversations about fairness, weaving in ideas about inclusion, culture and power. And working in such a complex environment as a university has taught me a great deal about the importance of power and privilege in how people experience fairness in their relationship within institutional structures and processes.
6. Both of you now work on creating better, more equitable and respectful environments in which to work and/or study. What would be the one piece of advice you would both give to people who would like to contribute to creating that kind of environment in their own workplace?
We’ve both had the privilege of seeing a wide range of leadership and engagement styles in many different contexts and organizations. The individuals we’ve found most inspiring seem to embody a simple principle: Start and lead with humility. Humility to self-reflect, withhold judgment, let go of assumptions, and acknowledge that we rarely see the whole picture. This allows us to acknowledge and value the varied lived experiences of others, especially in a world where colonization, privilege and oppression have created and continue to perpetuate deeply embedded barriers to an equitable and respectful experience in their working and learning environments. And without humility we cannot hope to move towards our institutional, social, and personal objectives to advance Indigenous human rights and decolonization.
This is a principle to which we have both come to aspire, recognizing that we each still have so much to learn. And, it never hurts to remember to laugh about yourself -- and your partner – which can help smooth the inevitable bumps on that path.
Updated in 2025:
7. What has kept you together over all of these years? And how will you celebrate Valentine’s Day this year?
We have been lucky to have had the circumstances and the temperaments to walk this 35+ year journey together so far. Along the way, our daughter Kiko has been our joy and inspires us to be better human beings.
We are looking forward to a wintery Valentine’s Day in Kyoto this year! As with all of our trips to Japan, the day will be one of exploring new and old spots, lots of good eats and immersing ourselves in a weird and wonderful culture we love.
Visit Shirley Nakata (LLB 1988) and Richard Hart (LLB 1988)'s individual profiles.