Executives

Don Avison, KC was named executive director and chief executive officer of the Law Society in December of 2017. He is a lawyer, former deputy minister and served for 10 years as the President of the Research Universities Council of British Columbia. Don has extensive governance experience. This includes his roles as Chair of the Foundation for the Centre for Disease Control, Chair of the Centre for Drug Research and Development, Vice-Chair of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and his work as Chair of the BC Oil and Gas Commission’s regulatory committee. In 2010 he conducted a comprehensive review regarding the regulatory effectiveness of the BC College of Teachers. He was British Columbia’s Lead Negotiator in the Social Union Framework Agreement and has acted as Chief Negotiator for B.C. in First Nations education and jurisdiction agreements. In the early part of his career, Don spent 12 years with the Attorney General of Canada as Crown Counsel, as a Regional Director and as Director General of Justice Canada’s Aboriginal Justice Initiative. He has been counsel at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Don graduated from UBC Law after completing undergraduate studies at what is now Thompson Rivers University and at Simon Fraser. He was recognized by TRU as a Distinguished Alumni for his commitment to public service.

Adam is the deputy executive director and deputy chief executive officer of the Law Society. He directly supports the executive director and chief executive officer in overseeing the fulfillment of the Law Society’s core regulatory mandate and functions, and in advancing strategic goals set out in the three-year plan. He also oversees and supervises the Society’s information technology services, policy development, government relations and communications. He is responsible for the enhanced role in executive support for Law Society governance processes, including responsibility for the coordination of materials developed for consideration by the Benchers.

Adam joined the Law Society in 1993 as claims counsel with the Insurance department and has progressively assumed more responsibilities since then. The variety of his experience at the Law Society has provided him with a broad knowledge of its operations. Prior to his positions with the Law Society, Whitcombe practised for a number of years with Davis & Co., now DLA Piper, after being called to the bar in 1985. Adam has a bachelor's degree and a law degree from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree from McMaster University.

Natasha Dookie joined the Law Society as chief legal officer in March 2019. The chief legal officer has overall responsibility for professional conduct, investigations, discipline, custodianships and unauthorized practice of law.

Natasha brings considerable regulatory and professional conduct experience to her role. In 2008 she was legal counsel with the Real Estate Council of BC, where she advised on matters involving disciplinary proceedings against licensees. She later joined the BC College of Teachers, where she was the director of professional conduct and legal counsel. In September 2012, she was recruited to be the deputy registrar and chief officer with the College of Registered Nurses of BC, where her responsibilities included instructing and supervising counsel for inquiry proceedings, discipline hearings, reviews and appeals.

Most recently, when multiple BC nursing regulators were amalgamated in 2018 to become the BC College of Nursing Professionals, Natasha was named deputy registrar of the college’s Inquiry and Discipline group.

Su Forbes, KC has overall responsibility for the indemnity program that indemnifies lawyers for malpractice and dishonest appropriation. She has been a lawyer since 1982 and practised as civil litigation counsel in a broad range of areas before joining the Lawyers Indemnity Fund in 1987. She was appointed director of the Lawyers Indemnity Fund in 1998 and received her Queen’s Counsel designation in 2002. Su has made presentations about the program and managing the risks of practice to a variety of audiences, including the Canadian and American Bar Associations, BC Continuing Legal Education, UBC Faculty of Law, Canadian Captive Insurance Association, LawAsia, and the International Association of Defence Counsel.  She has twice been the president of the National Association of Bar-Related Insurance Companies, a group of lawyers’ professional liability mutuals, reciprocals and insurance companies and programs across North America.

Prior to joining the Law Society in 2006, Jeanette was CFO and secretary treasurer of Cascade Aerospace Inc., vice-president of finance at BCTV/CHEK-TV and a chartered accountant at a national CA firm. She has a Chartered Professional Accountant designation and a business degree from Simon Fraser University.  She is currently a board member of the Greater Vancouver YMCA, and is a past board member of Simon Fraser University, Surrey Food Bank Society and the Seaton Woodward Foundation.

Lesley Small is responsible for overseeing management of practice support for lawyers, including remedial education and intervention, admission to the bar and bar examinations through the Professional Legal Training Course, and the credentials department.

Lesley joined the Law Society 1994 and was the Manager and Deputy Director of Credentials and Licensing from 2003 to 2020. As part of the senior leadership team, she brings more than 25 years of experience at the Law Society to help guide its strategic and operational decisions.