Faculty
Kim Karras — Brawn Karras & Sanderson, Surrey
Bruno Jessacher — Deputy District Registrar, Vancouver Probate Registry, Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
Elyssa L. Lockhart — McQuarrie Hunter LLP, Surrey
Kathryn Sainty — Former Supreme Court of BC Registrar, Sainty Law, Burnaby
Kirsten Wharton — Brawn Karras & Sanderson, Surrey
Jacy J. Wingson — McQuarrie Hunter LLP, Surrey
About the Course Chairs
Kim Karras is the managing partner of Brawn Karras & Sanderson which has been serving clients in the area of Surrey, White Rock, and the Fraser Valley since 1974. After obtaining both her BCom and her LLB at the University of BC, she articled at a large national law firm and has been practicing law since her call to the BC bar in 1986. Kim is a solicitor with a focus on wills, trusts, and all aspects of estate planning and administration. She oversees a large retail real estate practice, and has an extensive corporate/commercial practice, representing clients in the purchase and sale of business, and corporate reorganizations and restructuring. Kim has instructed frequently for the CLE Society of BC in the area of wills, trusts, and estates, and is frequently asked to speak for community groups on wills, trusts, and estate administration.
Kim is past chair of the Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation’s Board of Directors (2004-2006), and continues to serve as a director. Kim is an elected Provincial Council member of the CBA (BC Branch), a member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, the Vancouver Estate Planning Council, and the Fraser Valley Estate Planning Council, and is active in the CBABC’s Wills, Trusts and Estates Section.
Jacy J. Wingson is a partner at McQuarrie Hunter LLP, a full service law firm serving businesses, individuals, and institutions throughout the Lower Mainland and British Columbia for over 48 years. She heads the firm's Wills and Estates department and her practice focuses on all aspects of estate and trust litigation. After graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School, Jacy returned to Trinidad and Tobago where she practiced for almost three years before moving to Vancouver. She articled with a large firm in downtown Vancouver, and since her call to the BC bar in 1993 has been practicing with McQuarrie Hunter LLP. Jacy has appeared at all levels of Court in British Columbia and often uses mediation as an effective procedure for resolving contentious estate disputes.
Jacy has volunteered with the Canadian Bar Association's Equality Committee (1999 – 2003) and the CLE Society of BC’s Wills & Estates Practice Area Advisory Committee (2000 – 2001). She is also a member of the CBABC and the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers. This past year, Jacy co-chaired a presentation for the Surrey Bar Association on the new Wills Estates and Succession Act and was a presenter on WESA at a seminar hosted by the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, BC Chapter. Jacy has served on a number of boards in the Vancouver and Surrey communities.