Law History Profiles

Laura E. Duke graduated with the LLB class of 2008 from the law school at UBC. During law school she was the recipient of the Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP Prize in Constitutional Law. Upon being called to the British Columbia Bar in 2009, she began working at the Vancouver office of Lawson Lundell LLP (“Lawson Lundell”) where she is now a Partner. Prior to attending law school she received a Bachelor of Arts from UBC in 1999 and a Masters of Arts from the University of Toronto in 2000.

Byron Shaw is a graduate of the LLB class of 2008 from the law school at UBC. He currently works as a Partner in the Litigation Group at the Toronto offices of McCarthy Tétrault LLP (“McCarthy Tétrault”). His litigation experience has brought him before all levels of court in Ontario as well as the Federal Courts of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. 

Tariq Ahmed graduated from law school at UBC’s LLB program in 2008. In recognition of his dedication and involvement during law school, the Faculty of Law at UBC granted Ahmed with the Raymond G Herbert Award which annually honours the best all-round graduating student in reference to academic excellence, athletic involvement, leadership, and moral force of character. In addition to his stellar academic performance and involvement in student governance, Ahmed also acted as a Real Estate Law Tutor with the Sauder School of Business from 2006-2008. 

Mark Colavecchia is a Partner at Harris & Company LLP (“Harris”), a Vancouver-based firm that is also Western Canada’s largest workplace law and advocacy firm. Colavecchia’s practice focuses on a wide range of legal issues relating to labour, employment, and human rights law. He primarily represents management from a variety sectors, lending advice and representation on a plethora of matters ranging from dismissals to seniority issues. His experience in the courtroom is extensive, having appeared before the Federal Court and 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. 

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.” 

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.” 

It wasn’t a search for the perfect wave in wild West Coast surf that prompted Myron Plett to set up his law practice in Ucluelet, southwest of Tofino on Vancouver Island. “Lord, no,” he says, by phone. “I’m from the Prairies.” Yet he always had a dream of living in a beautiful small town. Above his desk, Plett keeps a photo of his favourite local spot: ocean waters churn under a dash of blue sky as the Broken Group Islands beckon beyond the Lighthouse Loop trail ...

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. "One of our cases at the LRC involved a large group of Somali clients who faced protection needs arising out of the xenophobic violence," explains Tay. "During this time, many faced wide-scale displacement and were unable to renew their documents.

“The work we do as lawyers is based on humility — excellence through humility is important,” says Bruce McIvor, founder and partner at First Peoples Law LLP. At First Peoples Law, Bruce is dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples. Bruce, who is Métis, grew up in Manitoba. His family was displaced from their lands, leaving his grandparents to farm in between rocks and swamp. “When I was a young boy on the farm, I picked a lot of rocks, but I decided that there had to be something better to do than picking rocks for the rest of my life,” he recalls.

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.

David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, has awarded UBC Law Associate Professor Benjamin Perrin the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his significant contributions to Canada. Professor Perrin was nominated by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute for Public Policy for his work at the forefront of the human trafficking issue as a driving force for important legislative changes and policy improvements.

Allard Law alum Joven Narwal is a leading trial and appellate lawyer at Narwal Litigation LLP in Vancouver. When he’s not dedicating time to the legal and broader community, Joven, who was an avid martial artist and grappler from the age of 8 until the end of law school, also serves as a director of the British Columbia Wrestling Association and tries to catch every big MMA and boxing event he can while ringside in Las Vegas, when his schedule permits.

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. 

Professor Shigenori Matsui joined the Faculty at the Allard School of Law in 2006. Professor Matsui is currently the Director of Japanese Legal Studies and is the Acting Director of Korean Legal Studies. He is also affiliated with the Centre for Business Law. Beyond the Allard School of Law, Professor Matsui is the Co-Director of the Centre for Japanese Research at UBC. 

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.

“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.”

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.

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.