Law History Profiles

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.

Sharon MacMillian is a Partner at the Vancouver office of Miller Thomson LLP (“Miller Thomson”). Her legal practice primarily focuses on real estate law and its connection with a variety of other sectors including environmental and commercial law. Acritas Stars recognized MacMillan in its 2018 global survey of “stand-out” lawyers.

Still in its infancy, animal law is a growing area of practice and one that Rebeka Breder (class of ’04) is passionate about. Her groundbreaking work in this area has garnered the attention of many and is changing the way we view law as it applies to non-humans ...

Carpe Diem. Seize the day. This is the motto that Drew Lawrenson lives by, and it is with this energy and love of life that he came to be where he is today. As Vice President, General Counsel of the Eminata Group, the largest provider of post-secondary education in Canada with 43 campuses enrolling more than 15 000 students, Drew engages with stakeholders to build consensus and works with students, employees, governments, businesses and community leaders from across Canada.

When Lutz Reide (LL.M. ’04) first visited Vancouver to study English in 2000, he was so drawn to the city’s West Coast lifestyle that he knew he’d return one day. Three years later, after earning his law diploma at Vienna University, the German native found himself back in Vancouver ...

Bob Delamar, Director of Business Development for Raysat, Inc. in Vienna, Virginia, thinks big. Always has. No inside-the-box for him. Who knows—maybe it’s the traveling. The next two weeks include stops in Nashville, Vancouver, Tokyo and Beijing—an itinerary mapped in the latitudes and longitudes of the entire globe.

Maybe it’s the influence of larger-than-life former Senator Ray Perrault, a maternal cousin and hero to the young Delamar, who said, “You know, son, I think you’d make a fine lawyer someday.”

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.

Ryan Dalziel is a partner at Norton Rose Fullbright and a member of the LLB class of 2003. He has clerked for Justice William Esson and Justice Mary Newbury at the BC Court of Appeal and for Justice Rosalie Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Jamie Maclaren, QC has a demonstrated dedication to increasing access to justice and has been significantly involved in pro bono organizations. He is the founding Executive Director of Access Pro Bono, a Vancouver-based organization that provides free legal advice to BC’s low income individuals and non-profit organizations. Furthermore, he is the former Executive Director of Pro Bono Law of BC and of Law Students’ Legal Advice Program (LSLAP) at the Allard School of Law, where he currently volunteers as a supervising trial lawyer and Director. Mr.

Jari was an elite speed skater and competed in community, regional, provincial, national and international competitions during his competitive career from 1983 to 2000. Following his retirement from competitive speed skating, Jari coached athletes ranging in age from 3 to 75 and from beginner to national/elite level at the Burnaby Haida Speed Skating Club and six Fraser Valley speed skating clubs from 2000 to 2005...

Mandeep Gill graduated with LLB class of 2003 from the law school at UBC. She currently works as an Associate at Harper Grey LLP (“Harper Grey”) in Vancouver. As a member of the firm’s Health Law, Professional Regulation, and Critical Injury Law Groups, Gill’s primary focus is on representing clients in civil and disciplinary matters.

Jordanna Cytrynbaum is a Director at Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation (“Whitelaw Twining”) in Vancouver. Her legal practice largely focuses on commercial litigation. At Whitelaw Twining she leads both the Commercial Speciality Group and the Employment Law Specialty Group. Cytrynbaum’s ample litigation experience has brought her before all levels of court as well as administrative tribunals. In addition, Cytrynbaum has extensive experience advising and representing clients through arbitration processes.

Class of 2002 
Lee Schmidt is an Allard Alumnus from 2002. She worked as an Indigenous rights lawyer at a Vancouver firm before joining the Peter A. Allard School of Law in 2017 as the Associate Director Indigenous Legal Studies. She maintains a part-time law practice and is called to the Bar of British Columbia. Schmidt is a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. She

When Marcie Moriarty made the leap from Animal Biology at UBC to her JD at Allard Law, she had no idea she was embarking on a path that would lead to her dream job. Combining her love and compassion for animals with a zest for exacting change through legal processes, Marcie is now the Chief of Protection and Outreach at the BC SPCA.

It is cases like these which weigh heavily on Deanna Okun-Nachoff (’02), the 36-year-old executive director and staff lawyer at the West Coast Domestic Worker’s Association. As the only lawyer within the organization, Okun-Nachoff handles cases involving domestic workers who face deportation because of illness ...

Mark Fancourt-Smith graduated from the law school at UBC’s LLB program in 2002. Prior to attending law school, Fancourt-Smith received an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Queens University in English, Biology, and Philosophy in 1994. During his early legal career Fancourt-Smith worked as an Associate with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP from 2003-2010. He is currently a Partner at Lawson Lundell LLP (“Lawson Lundell”) in Vancouver, having joined the firm in 2010.

Miranda Lam is a partner in the commercial litigation group at McCarthy Tétrault where she focuses on diverse forms of shareholder disputes and is the retail sector lead for the national Retail and Consumer Markets Group. She dedicates her practice to problem solving and seeking the best possible resolution for her clients.

Ms. Lam graduated from the law school at UBC in 2002. She clerked at the BC Supreme Court before joining Davis LLP and subsequently McCarthy Tétrault LLP.