Conversations with the President

How to put the volunteer into your career. CBA President Stephen Rotstein welcomes Caitlin Urquhart, dedicated Newfoundland & Labrador community builder and ecology advocate. Caitlin is this year’s recipient of the Douglas Miller Rising Star Award. The Douglas Miller Rising Star Award recognizes an early career lawyer who is a CBA member in good standing and who exhibits professional excellence; service to the profession; and outstanding dedication and team spirit in his or her ongoing involvement with the CBA. This award is intended to provide early recognition of developing talent, honouring members who already demonstrate characteristics of leadership to the profession.

In addition to her legal practice in St. John’s, Caitlin is an active member of the CBA. She also volunteers with Access to Justice Legal Clinics and is the chair of the board of directors of the St. John’s Status of Women Council. She recently stepped away from her role as staff lawyer with Ecojustice, Canada’s largest environmental law charity, to take on the position of junior commission counsel for the Inquiry into the Treatment, Experiences and Outcomes of Innu in the Child Protection System. 

Next on Urquhart’s list is a  National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act, introduced by MP Lenore Zann in June 2021 to require examination of the link between race, socio-economic status and environmental risk. After the bill died on the floor of the House due to the dissolution of Parliament in the Fall of 2021, the bill was recently re-introduced as a private members bill (C-226). Urquhart is part of the movement calling for all members of parliament to support its expedited passage..

Conversations with the President Mental Health Week Special: 

During his tenure, Stephen has made community building, volunteerism and mental health his top priorities. This episode of CWP brings inspiring insights on all three but particularly mental health. Taken from Stephen Rotstein’s conversations with Justice Michele Hollins, Kendra Goertzen and Caitlin Urquhart.

Managing mental health in general, within the legal profession and within the broader community. Overcoming depression and addiction and excelling professionally. 

Everybody’s good at going to the gym but that isn’t enough recharge your battery on an emotional level.

Stephen Rotstein speaks to CBA Pro Bono Initiatives Coordinator Bjorna Shkurti about how CBA Lawyers are helping refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan and about her own remarkable journey from war-torn Albania to the Alberta Bar. Their discussion touches on Immigration law and volunteerism and how lawyers often end up helping simply by lending an ear.

CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, has a heartfelt conversation with Kendra Goertzen, the inaugural recipient of the Grant Davis Collegiality and Wellbeing Award, granted by the Manitoba branch of the CBA.

Kendra Goertzen is a Manitoba lawyer who practices in the area of family law and child protection in Winnipeg. Kendra's mission is to eliminate the stigma associated with addictions. She herself is in recovery and is very open about her own past struggles with sobriety.

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CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, meets with Tom Ullyett, chair of the Employment Standards Board, a member of the Yukon University’s Board of Governors and co-chair of the Yukon branch Public Sector’s Lawyer’s section. He’s recognized for being a community builder who’s helped support a generation of Yukon public sector lawyers.

He’s been an active CBA member at the branch and national level for over 30 years. Last year the CBA awarded him with the Louis Saint-Laurent Award for Excellence, the highest award conferred to a CBA member in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding service of professional achievement to the benefit of the legal profession, the CBA and society at large.

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CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, speaks with former CBA President Madam Justice Michele Hollins about her battle with depression. 

Having  grown  up  in Saskatchewan,  Michele  graduated  with her  B.Sc. from  Texas  Christian  University  in Fort  Worth, Texas  in 1987.   She  returned  to  Saskatchewan  and  obtained her  LL.B.  from  the University  of  Saskatchewan, College  of Law  in  1992.  Michele  is  an  ardent  volunteer, particularly  within  the  legal community.   She  has  been  heavily  involved in  the  Canadian  Bar  Association  since  her  articling  days, including  serving  as  the  CBA  Alberta  Branch President  in  2007.  She became CBA's National President in 2014-2015. She was appointed at the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in 2017.

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CBA President, Stephen Rotstein speaks with James Bunting, founding partner of Tyr LLP. They talk about his atypical career path, his work in gender equity and sports regulations, and his various volunteer roles. 

James has acted for athletes, coaches and agents in a variety of different matters, including contractual claims, doping infractions, carding disputes, gender equity complaints, team selection appeals and disciplinary appeals. He is ranked in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a repeatedly recommended practitioner in Corporate Commercial Litigation and Securities Litigation. He earned a BA from the University of Western Ontario in 1999 and an LLB from the same university in 2002. 

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Check out Policy Options Podcast

CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, hosts his first episode with guest Wei William Tao. They talk about volunteering, his community involvement and his work in the immigration law area.

My guest today is Wei William Tao, Canadian Immigration and Refugee Lawyer in Vancouver. Will co-founded Heron Law Offices in 2021 and provides legal services in all areas of Canadian immigration and refugee law, with a particular focus on complex refusals, appeals, judicial reviews of international student, family class, and foreign worker-related applications. He won the CBA Immigration Section Founders’ Award in 2020, and won the CBA Immigration’s Volunteer Recognition Award for his work with the Section’s Anti-Racism Committee in 2021. He has been Best Lawyers-listed since 2017. And he’s still early in his career, having been called to the Bar in 2015. 

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Subscribe to the other CBA Podcasts: Conversations with the President, Modern Law - Droit Moderne and Juriste branché (French podcast)

Stephen Rotstein, CBA President for the year 2021-2022, meets with The Every Lawyer host Marlisse Silver-Sweeney. They discuss his priority for the year and his upcoming podcast Conversations with the President. They talk mental health, community involvement,  and more.

The first episode of Stephen's series Strengthening our Community will be released on November 18, 2021. Stay tuned!

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Subscribe to the other CBA Podcasts: The Every Lawyer, Modern Law - Droit Moderne and Juriste branché .