Profiles

Elizabeth Watson graduated from the Allard School of Law in 1981. After 20 years of thriving private practice, Ms. Watson founded Watson Advisors Inc., now Canada’s largest multi-disciplinary governance consultancy working with established and growing companies to recruit exceptional directors and executive leaders and optimize board effectiveness. In addition to her practice, Ms. Watson speaks regularly on governance matters and teaches in the Institute of Corporate Director’s Program on Governance Effectiveness. Ms.

John D'Arcy Gardner was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan in 1950 near his grandparents Midale, Saskatchewan wheat farm. The family moved along with Gardner's father's mining work, from New York City to Arizona, Peru, and finally Los Altos, California. He enrolled at Grinnell, a highly-ranked liberal arts college in Iowa. At the time, the Vietnam War had ensnared the United States, and on a trip with classmates to Winnipeg he formally renounced his U.S. Citizenship. 

Howard Ehrlich was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, to David Ehrlich, an Auschwitz survivor, and his wife Grace. He studied at the University of British Columbia, where he obtained his undergraduate degree, before obtaining his law degree in 1981. He continued legal studies at Southern Methodist University in Texas, obtaining an LLM before returning to practice in Vancouver. 

Theresa Arsenault, QC knew in the early 1980s that she wanted to do corporate law but considered Vernon, where she practised for four years, too small for that. So was Salmon Arm, where she had attended high school. Vancouver, where she did her UBC arts under- grad and law degrees (Class of ’81), was too big. This outdoor enthusiast was looking for that just-right place – like Goldilocks, she says by phone with a laugh ... 

Born to an Inuk mother in 1936 and raised in Edmonton, Kiviaq holds the distinction of being Canada’s first Inuit lawyer. As a child, Kiviaq endured the racism of schoolyard bullies, and developed prowess as a fighter. As a young man, he had a distinguished athletic career that included boxing and football. 

Cheryl Tobias is Senior General Counsel in the Vancouver Regional Office for the Department of Justice. Her practice consists largely of appeals up to and including the Supreme Court of Canada dealing with constitutional, criminal and Aboriginal rights issues.

What started as road trip to Alaska turned into a lifelong career in the Canadian North for retired Nunavut Chief Justice Robert Kilpatrick. Justice Kilpatrick fondly looks back on the adventure he embarked on following his graduation from law school at UBC in 1980. He reflects on the emerald lakes, towering mountains, friendly people, and all that inspired him to build his career in the “land of the midnight sun.”

Adriana Wills is a Partner at Harris & Company LLP (“Harris”) in Vancouver. Her legal practice primarily focuses on workplace law as well as employment law, labour law, and human rights law. With over 30 years of experience, Wills has appeared before the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court of Appeal, as well as the Labour Relations Board and the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. Since 2010 she has been annually recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada in the Labour and Employment Law sectors. 

July is a cold, wintry month in Melbourne, Australia. That is when, and where, approximately 46 years ago, Richard S. Margetts, president of the Law Society of British Columbia, was introduced to the world. A contrarian by both inclination and genetics, it is fitting that Richard should now thrive in a land on the opposite side of the globe, where July is part of a warmer and more hospitable season ... 

Jan Lindsay, Q.C., the new president of the Law Society of British Columbia, is smart, warm and genuine. Jan has risen to her position as president as a result of hard work, determination and a bucketload of talent. The profession will be well served by her leadership. Jan has lived her entire life in the Lower Mainland. She was born at the Vancouver Grace Hospital on January 20, 1955, the first-born child of Abie and Carol Klassen. As the eldest offspring and only daughter, Jan was expected to set a good example for her younger brothers, Stan, Lory and Glen.

“I was actually a counsel on the first Charter case filed and argued on the first day in which the Charter came into force…” 

Michael F. Welsh, QC is a member of the LLB class of 1980. He is a professionally certified mediator and arbitrator and a partner at the litigation and mediation firm Mott Welsh & Associates, based in Penticton, BC. 

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Welsh graduated with a BA philosophy, cum laude, from Cornell University (1975). Following graduation from UBC’s law school, Mr. Welsh clerked at the BC Supreme Court. He went on to complete his articles at Russel & DuMoulin (now known as Fasken). 

Professor L. Michelle LeBaron joined the Allard School of Law in 2003. She directed the UBC Program on Dispute Resolution from 2003 to 2012. She is also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC. 

“One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong...” Judith Bellis sings behind the closed door of her Department of Justice office in Ottawa. It’s an old Sesame Street ditty, and Bellis’s response to being told she’s been selected as a subject for this feature.

Mitch Taylor is a family man. His son Patrick is studying sciences at UBC and his daughter Samantha is a member of Canada’s Equestrian Team and a 2008 Olympic hopeful. His wife Nora, Senior Investment Executive with Scotia McLeod, comes up twice in conversation; they have been married for 31 years. So when Taylor says he “kind of fell into law,” it sounds less like an accident than like falling in love: a wholehearted, lifelong commitment to the work he was meant for.

At just past halfway through her five-year term as a chief judge of the Provincial Court of British Columbia, Carol Baird Ellen cannot be said to have had an uneventful tenure so far. In a rare moment of quiet contemplation recently, we shared some reflections on those first 30 months and thoughts about the second half ... 

It is an honour and pleasure to have the opportunity to write about our Canadian Bar Association B.C. Branch president this year, Margaret Ostrowski, Q.C. Margaret is a rare find. She is a lawyer who is at once a consummate and ethical professional and yet maintains a hectic agenda as a devoted mother of two active, accomplished sons in school and a stepmother to three grown children. She is a well-rounded person.

Wilf Wakely, most commonly pronounced "Wirofu Waekuri" in his beloved and enchanting Japan, died peacefully in Tokyo on February 2, 2021 after a two-year battle with brain cancer.

In the fall of 2007, after 23 years with the Community Legal Assistance Society (“CLAS”), Jim Pozer, the society’s executive director, retired for health reasons. Few people have done as much as Jim to advance the rights of the underprivileged in British Columbia. Throughout his career, with trademark humour and grace, he worked tirelessly to advance the law relating to poverty, mental health, the physically and mentally disadvantaged and human rights ...

Brian Higgins, Class of 1979, has the unique quality of having greatly impacted the lives of countless law students at the University of British Columbia without ever having been their professor. Higgins was the longest serving Supervisor Lawyer of the Law Students' Legal Advice Program, working with the Program from 1988 until his retirement in 2011.