FACL BC

TW: this episode contains discussions of sexual violence and violence against women. Listener discretion is advised.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Julie Macfarlane, Order of Canada recipient and founder of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSLRP). In addition to discussing the access to justice crisis that impacts self-represented litigants, Dr. Macfarlane also shares about her advocacy work against non-disclosure agreements (NDA's) and Islamophobia. The interview concludes with Dr. Macfarlane's commentary on her book titled, Going Public: A Survivor's Journey from Grief to Action, which details her own experiences and struggles with the legal system as a self-represented litigant and survivor of sexual violence.

This episode we sit down with Parveen Sehra, the Director of Professional Resources at Singleton Urquhart Reynolds LLP. She leads the student program for summer and articling students, including recruitment, engagement, and professional development. She is skilled in helping young professionals develop and further their skills and has a broad range of experience within the legal industry. Parveen was most recently one of our speakers on September 14, 2021, for the panel titled “Navigating the Recruitment Process as an Asian-Canadian Law Student: Putting Your Best Foot Forward”. This episode is a recap of that event with OCI guidance, and provides further background on Parveen’s path to legal recruitment.

October's episode is brought to you by DLD Financial Group, a full-service financial planning firm based in downtown Vancouver. This month we are pleased to have Kelly Ho from DLD discuss money matters with legal professionals. You may have seen Kelly at one of our Fridays with FACL BC events earlier this year. In this episode, Kelly will discuss common financial issues faced by lawyers at all stages of their career and strategies one can employ to maximize their financial success. The goal is to provide you with a foundational understanding of financial planning advice specifically for lawyers and to equip you to make the most out of each hard earned dollar.

This episode is a discussion on law-adjacent careers with Barbara Wang, the Manager of Student Experience at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. Prior to joining the law school, Barbara was an associate at McCarthy Tétrault. 

Knowing that there would never be the “perfect” time for a career change, after a few years, Barbara made the leap. On the transition from private practice to her current law-adjacent role at Allard, Barbara discusses the factors she considered in her decision, the people she reached out to, the resources she relied on, the subsequent changes with the Law Society, and more.

Welcome back to season 2 of our podcast, where we feature Aaron Bains for this month's episode. Hailing from Surrey, BC, Aaron currently works at Aird & Berlis LLP and is a member of the firm's diversity and inclusion committee. He dedicates his time to various boards, most recently as president of the South Asian Bar Association of Toronto as well as the St. George's Society. Like our former guest Nerissa Yan, Aaron was named as Canada's Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in 2020 by Canadian Lawyer magazine in the Young Influencer category. He was also recognized as a 2020 Precedent Setter by Precedent Magazine, which recognizes six outstanding young Toronto lawyers who have shown excellence and leadership in their practice and their community.

In this episode, we sit down to discuss Aaron's journey as an award-winning Bay Street partner and his commitment to diversity and inclusion outside of work. We also talk about the importance of fostering strong relationships, surrounding ourselves with pleasant colleagues, and genuinely enjoying one's practice.

This episode is a discussion with Jaskaran Sandhu, lawyer and senior consultant at Crestview Strategy and the founder of Baaz media, on the way in which ethnic communities are portrayed in the media, the historical issues that continue today with minority media representation and the importance of having independent community based media outlets. Jaskaran also sheds light on the ongoing Indian farmer's protest and the role of the media in one of the largest movements in the world.

Prior to joining Crestview Strategy, Jaskaran was the Executive Director of the World Sikh Organization of Canada and also previously served as the Senior Advisor to Brampton’s Office of the Mayor. He also serves on the board of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, is a current CivicAction DiverseCity Fellow, and was recognized by Brampton’s Board of Trade as one of Brampton’s top 40 under 40 in 2017.

FACL Guest hosts: Rasmeet Mohar and Hasan Alam

This episode discusses pay equity, corporate governance, and the pressing need for increasing gender and racialized representation in boards, the legal profession, and legal academia. In this episode, we have the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Carol Liao, Associate 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 recently received the 2021 Influential Women in Business Award, an award that recognizes leaders in their respective field for contributing their time and expertise to the broader BC business community as board members, advisors, donors and mentors.

Prior to joining Allard, Dr. Liao taught at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, practiced law in New York at Shearman & Sterling LLP, served as a legal researcher for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda, and clerked at the BC Court of Appeal.

This episode discusses several statistics, all of which can be found here: https://bit.ly/3cIURsp

In this episode, we welcome Isaac Won, a lawyer in the Community Law Program with the Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS). Isaac discusses access to justice reform initiatives, public interest work, and his current advocacy work at CLAS.

During law school, Isaac volunteered extensively with the Law Students Legal Advice Program, providing legal representation and advice to low income and vulnerable individuals. Isaac completed his articles with CLAS in May 2018 and worked with the Mental Health Law Program and the Human Rights Clinic before joining the Community Law Program in 2020.

We discuss a number of initiatives, legal terms, and external resources in this episode, all of which can be found in this document: https://bit.ly/3344CvY

Five years ago, Albert Klein was contemplating leaving law.  He is now a partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, running a successful disability law practice across Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.  He joins guest host (and younger brother) James Hsu, co-chair of FACL BC's membership committee, to discuss what changed, the importance of identifying your "non-negotiables'' and what it takes to run a multi-jurisdictional practice.

Be sure to learn more about us at faclbc.ca

This month we are pleased to have Chilwin Cheng return as guest host, where he interviews Lisa Fong, QC. In this episode, Chilwin and Lisa discuss her upbringing with immigrant parents, Asian representation in the legal profession, the lack of judicial diversity on the Bench, her appointment as Queen’s Counsel, and the contested topic of whether potstickers or steamed soup dumplings are better. Queen’s Counsel is an honorary title to recognize a lawyer’s exceptional merit and contribution to the legal profession.

Some statistics on judicial appointments:

Statement:

https://carl-acaadr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/EN-Letter-to-the-Min-of-Justice-1.pdf

Sources: