Vancouver – The Law Society has completed the selection process for members of the public chosen to sit on hearing panels that discipline lawyers and those that examine the fitness and character of a person applying to be a lawyer.
This is the first time that people who are neither lawyers nor members of the Law Society board of governors will sit on the influential panels. Among the 21 people named to do so are a university professor, a retired social worker, a former forest industry executive, an architect, a band chief, and retired police officers.
This past spring the Society ran a province-wide ad campaign to attract applicants. Nearly 600 people from across BC applied. The screening and selection process was assisted by a third-party recruitment team.
“We recognize it’s not enough to say ‘trust us,’” said Society president Gavin Hume, QC. “We need to be transparent to the public, and involving people who aren’t lawyers in our processes is one of the ways we’re demonstrating the Law Society’s commitment to maintaining public confidence.”
One of the people selected is the former mayor of Sidney, BC, Donald Amos. “The number one reason I put my name forward is the opportunity to contribute to the community interest,” said Amos. “I felt with my background and work history I could make a positive contribution to the Law Society’s hearing process.”
Earlier this year, the Law Society took the first step toward broader participation in hearings by inviting lawyers who are not Benchers (members of the Society’s board of governors) to serve as members of a similar pool from which hearing panels are drawn.
For additional information, please see the list of new panel participants (below).
The Law Society of British Columbia regulates the more than 10,000 lawyers in the province, setting and enforcing standards of professional conduct that ensure the public is well-served by a competent, honourable legal profession.
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For further information or to arrange an interview contact:
Lesley Pritchard
Communications Officer
604-443-5708
lpritchard@lsbc.org
Robyn Crisanti
Manager, Communications and Public Affairs
604-697-5845
rcrisanti@lsbc.org
Backgrounder: List of new panel participants
Members of the public for hearing panel pool:
Donald Amos. Sidney. A former Mayor of Sidney, Amos has a diverse work history including time spent as an accountant and RCMP member. He also chaired public hearings at the BC Securities Commission, the Victoria Regional Transit Commission, and the Capital Regional District.
Dr. Gail Bellward. Vancouver. A Professor Emerita at the University of British Columbia and a former Associate Dean in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC, Bellward has appeared as an expert witness in numerous court cases and has also been a member of inquiry boards and tribunals at UBC. Bellward also chaired the UBC Clinical Research Ethics Board.
Glenys Blackadder. Victoria. A dual citizen of Australia and Canada, Blackadder is a former Chief Investigator of the Child Protection Investigation Unit in Sydney, Australia. She has also worked in human rights and is a former senior federal government negotiator in the Department of Indian Affairs.
Paula Cayley. Lions Bay. Cayley was President and CEO of Interlock Corporation – an employee assistance agency. She has spent her career, including time as the chief social worker at a psychiatry institute in Ontario, assisting organizations and individuals in building healthy and productive workplaces.
David Chiang. Vancouver. Chiang is a chartered accountant who is currently vice-chair of the Professional Conduct & Enquiry Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC, which hears complaints from the public about accountants. He has also served on the boards of Langara College, ICABC, the Burnaby Multicultural Society and the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
Dennis Day. Langley. Day built his career in the forest industry, working in various executive roles for Fletcher Challenge Canada. He has his own consulting firm in human resources and business development and has served as the Chair of the Passenger Transportation Board of British Columbia.
Adam Eneas. Penticton. A hereditary chief and former elected chief of the Penticton Band, Eneas has also worked in various senior roles with the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the Native Courtworker and Counselling Association of BC, Indian and Northern Affairs and the Secretary of State.
Jory Faibish. Vancouver. Faibish maintains a dual career as an experienced architect and certified mediator. He is a former Registrar of the Architectural Institute of BC, on faculty at the Justice Institute of BC and currently holds the title of Adjudicator under the Local Government Bylaw Notice Enforcement Act.
John Ferguson. Burnaby. Ferguson spent many years with the RCMP, eventually managing national and international law enforcement programs. He has 10 years experience in professional conduct hearings as an adjudicator for the RCMP’s internal discipline program and is currently a PhD student at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law.
Carol Gibson. Vancouver. Gibson has extensive managerial and adjudicative experience, both from her career in human resources as well as her time serving on numerous boards in large organizations in the private and public sector, including the Labour Relations Board.
Dan Goodleaf. Vancouver. Goodleaf, a member of the Mohawk First Nation, recently retired from the Government of Canada, where he held many senior posts such as Deputy Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Chief Federal Negotiator and Executive Director of the Federal Treaty Negotiations Office. He also served as a Canadian Ambassador in Central America.
J. S. (Woody) Hayes. Duncan. Hayes is a Chartered Accountant and Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia. He recently retired from the Vancouver Island Health Authority Board of Directors and Canadian Accounting Standards Oversight Council.
John Lane. Cobble Hill. Lane spent the majority of his career with the Victoria Police Department where he received the Governor General’s Police Exemplary Service Medal & Bars and the Provincial Government’s Award for Outstanding Police Service. Lane now consults on police practices and investigations.
Linda Michaluk. North Sannich. Michaluk is the Executive Director of the College of Applied Biology where she is responsible for implementing policies that reflect legislative direction. Michaluk also served as the Chair of the Environmental Appeal Board of BC where she introduced innovative procedures on the management of appeals and delivery of decisions.
Laura Nashman. Victoria. Originally from Ontario, Nashman recently moved to BC for the position of Chief Executive Officer of the BC Pension Corporation. Her career is focused on work with the public sector and she was recently recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network and the Financial Post. [Nashman's name was added October 21, 2011 – Editor]
Lance Ollenberger. Fort St. John. A Deputy Commissioner with the BC Oil & Gas Commission, Ollenberger oversees all operational field activities, including compliance and enforcement actions and implementation of relevant legislation. He has served on committees with the Association of BC Forest Professionals.
Graeme Roberts. Brentwood Bay. A retired automobile dealer, Roberts is also a former Chair of the Public Service Commission of BC. He presided at approximately 180 hearings during his seven-year tenure. He is currently a member of the board of the Victoria Airport Authority, Chair of the Motor Vehicle Sales Authority of BC and was previously the Mayor of Nanaimo.
Lois Serwa. Kelowna. Serwa is a member of the Salvation Army Community Council. She has previously served as a public representative on the Privy Council to the Federal Human Rights Tribunal, the Registered Nurses Association of BC, and as a director of the Central Okanagan Foundation.
Clayton Shultz. Surrey. Shultz works with the legal profession as an arbitrator and litigation support consultant in accounting issues. He is Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia and also served as chair of the Institute’s Discipline and Practice Review and Licensing Committees. Schultz is a former appointee to the Council of the College of Dental Surgeons of BC.
Thelma Siglos. New Westminster. Siglos is a Chartered Accountant and the Manager, Financial Integrity at the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. She has served as Chair of the Professional Conduct Enquiry Committee and the Rulings Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC.
Robert Smith. Surrey. Smith is an Adjunct Professor at the Sauder School of Business and Director of Education at the Centre for Health Care Management. Smith has served on numerous committees and most recently as Chair to the Canadian Stroke Strategy Advisory Committee.
Members of the Law Society’s new non-Bencher lawyer hearing panel pool:
[Lawyers' biographical information added October 31, 2011 – Editor]
Jasmin Ahmad, Vancouver. Ahmad is a commercial litigation lawyer at Koffman Kalef LLP. She is a former executive member of the Vancouver Bar Association.
Ralston Alexander, QC, Victoria. A former President of the Law Society (2005), Alexander has participated as a panel member in a number of discipline and credentials hearings. He is currently a partner at Cook Roberts LLP.
Jo Ann Carmichael, QC, Vancouver. Carmichael is a partner at Alexander Holburn Beaudin and Lang LLP, where she is as a member of the firm’s insurance law and family law practice. She has served as Director of the Vancouver Bar Association and as a Bencher of the Law Society.
Jennifer Chow, Vancouver. Chow works as a civil litigator for the Department of Justice, Canada. She serves as chair of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch’s Equity and Diversity Committee and is a member of the Law Society’s Equity and Diversity Committee.
Ian Donaldson QC, Vancouver. Donaldson is a partner at Donaldson Jette LLP and practices criminal law. He served as a Law Society Bencher from 2000 to 2007 and has been active in a number of organizations, including the Canadian Bar Association and the Trial Lawyers Association.
James Dorsey QC, North Vancouver. Dorsey is in private practice with experience in arbitration and mediation. He is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and a Past President of the Arbitrators’ Association of British Columbia.
William Everett, QC, Vancouver. Everett is a partner at Lawson Lundell LLP and practises primarily in the area of complex litigation. He is a Chartered Arbitrator and served as President of the Law Society (2004).
Anna Fung, QC, Vancouver. Fung is Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at Intrawest ULC. She is the director of the Vancouver Foundation and served as the first female President of the Law Society in 2007.
John Hogg, QC, Kamloops. Hogg is a partner at Morelli Chertkow LLP and practises personal injury, general civil litigation and criminal law. He served as a Law Society Bencher from 1983 to1993 and is currently Director of the BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
William Jackson, QC, Dawson Creek. Jackson is Crown Counsel in Dawson Creek. He was a Law Society Bencher from 2003 to 2009 and served on panels, including as chair, of discipline and credentials hearings.
David Layton, Vancouver. Layton is an associate counsel with Ritchie Sandford, practising primarily criminal law. He has a particular interest in legal professional responsibility, and has written extensively on the topic and frequently appears as a lecturer and conference participant.
Richard Lindsay, QC, Vancouver. Lindsay is a partner at Lindsay Kenney LLP, practising primarily insurance civil litigation. He is actively involved in education of insurance defense counsel, and writes and lectures police, fire and insurance personnel on litigation issues. Lindsay is also a registered professional engineer.
Kelly MacDonald, Tsawwassen. As a sole practitioner practising Aboriginal law, MacDonald assists various First Nations bands and organizations on matters such as child and family services, treaty-making, self-governance, health, criminal justice and more. She has served as an adjudicator, tribunal or board member for the Residential Schools Adjudication, the National Parole Board, the Mental Health Review Panel, and the BC Children’s Commission.
Shona Moore, QC, Vancouver. Moore is a founding partner with Moore Edgar Olson. She practises primarily administrative law with an emphasis on representing trade unions, labour, employment and human rights. Moore was a Law Society Bencher for several years in the 1990s.
Karen Nordlinger, QC, Vancouver. Nordlinger practises primarly family and labour law. She served as a Law Society Bencher from 1988 to 1996 and as Treasurer (now President) in 1996.
Jennifer Reid, Prince Rupert. An administrative lawyer with the Ministry of the Attorney General, Reid specializes in criminal and correctional law as well as restorative justice in northern Aboriginal communities and social justice policy development and implementation.
Dale Sanderson, QC, Vancouver. Sanderson is a senior litigation partner at Davis LLP and experienced in commercial litigation and arbitration. He was appointed to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands in 2000 where he sat as a judge for three years and continues to serve as an acting judge for several months each year.
Donald Silversides, QC, Prince Rupert. Silversides is managing partner of Silversides, Merrick & McLean practising principally in corporate and commercial law. He is a Law Society Life Bencher and has chaired or been a director of several business and legal organizations.
Marvin Storrow, QC, Vancouver. A senior partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and a Law Society Life Bencher, Storrow specializes in arbitration, mediation, civil and criminal law and has extensive alternative dispute resolution experience.
William Sundhu, Kamloops. A former Provincial Court judge, Sandhu is a practising lawyer with broad experience as well as a former panel member and adjudicator for the Medical and Health Care Services Appeal Board of BC.
Gordon Turriff, QC, Vancouver. As senior counsel at Stikeman Elliott LLP, Turriff’s practice involves financial relationships between lawyers and their clients and remuneration for other professionals. He served as President of the Law Society in 2009.
John Waddell, QC, Victoria. Waddell, as a partner at Waddell Raponi LLP, focuses his practice on civil litigation and has extensive experience in alternate forms of dispute resolution. He has served as Chair of the Appeal Panels struck under the Criminal Records Review Act of BC and has conducted investigations on behalf of the Law Society.
Brian J. Wallace, QC, Victoria. Wallace has more than 30 years of experience in public law on constitutional, administrative and tax law matters. He is a Chartered Arbitrator, an accredited mediator and a Law Society Life Bencher.
Peter Warner, QC, Peachland. Warner has a broad solicitor’s practice at Heather Sadler Jenkins LLP and currently chairs panel hearings under the Mental Health Act on the Mental Health Review Board. He has held leadership roles in many professional legal organizations. [Minor corrections were made to Peter Warner's biography subsequent to this release being issued - Editor]
Sandra Weafer, Vancouver. Weafer is Senior Counsel/Deputy Director at the Public Safety Defence and Immigration Law Section of the Department of Justice BC regional office. As the majority of her practice has been in the administrative law field, she is very familiar with the role of administrative tribunals.
Gary Weatherill, QC, Vernon. Weatherill is a partner at Nixon Wenger LLP in Vernon. Experienced in both commercial and personal injury litigation, he has acted as counsel at all levels of court and in arbitrations, mediations and before administrative tribunals.