Women Thriving in Law

Course Chairs
Jennifer Marles — Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP, Vancouver
Allison Wolf — Lawyer Coach, Shift Works Strategic Inc., Vancouver

About the Course Chair

Jennifer Marles focuses her practice on helping clients develop and manage their intellectual property assets, particularly patents. She works with clients in the life sciences space, including those involved in developing novel medical devices, chemical compositions, biologics and pharmaceuticals. She also assists clients to protect mechanical devices, and with contracts relating to their IP, including copyright and licensing issues relating to software. Jennifer also provides clients with opinions on issues such as patentability, trademark registrability, and freedom-to-operate. Jennifer’s clients include a broad range of early stage and established companies and universities.

She was awarded the Law Society Gold Medal for graduating at the top of her class in 2006 at the University of Victoria, and also received the J. Edward Maybee Memorial prize for earning the highest mark overall on the 2009 patent agent’s qualifying examination. She started her career in IP law with Oyen Wiggs as a summer student in 2004, returned as an articled student in 2007, and then as an associate in 2008. She became a partner of the firm in 2015. Jennifer has served as an adjunct professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia since 2008, where she lectures on copyright law.

Allison Wolf is a Certified Executive Coach, founder and coach with Shift Works Strategic Inc. and publisher of Lawyer With A Life.  Her coaching practice is entirely focused on working with lawyers in three key areas - practice management and growth, leadership, and career.  She works with clients from across Canada and the United States.  She is retained both by individuals and by law firms.  She has worked with clients from virtually every area of practice, and all levels of seniority, from newly called associates to senior partners transitioning to retirement.

Keynote speaker
Marion R. Buller — Chief Commissioner, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry, Vancouver

About the Keynote speaker
Marion R. Buller was appointed the first female First Nations judge in BC in 1994. Prior to being appointed to the Provincial Court bench, Judge Buller worked as a civil and criminal lawyer (1988-1994). Judge Buller served as both a director and president of Canada’s Indigenous Bar Association and has been a member of the BC Police Commission and the Law Court Education Society. She was the Commission Counsel for the Caribou-Chilcotin Justice Inquiry and published reports and articles dealing with Aboriginal rights and legal services for First Nations in BC. Judge Buller was instrumental in starting the First Nations Court of BC in 2006.

Marion retired as a Judge of the BC Provincial Court in August, 2016, in order to accept the appointment as Chief Commissioner for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Advisory Committee
Gwendoline Allison — Foy Allison Law, West Vancouver
Daria Batkin — Onyx Law Group, Vancouver
Mary N. Childs — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver
Candace Cho — Onyx Law Group, Vancouver
Lindsay Clark — Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Vancouver
Joanna Dawson — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Sara Forte — Forte Law Corporation, Surrey
Bree Hankins — Pihl Law Corporation, Kelowna
Una Radoja — Harper Grey LLP, Vancouver
Sabrina Anne Yeudall — Candid Legal, Nanaimo
Jennifer Yong — Legal Counsel, iQmetrix Software Development Corp., Vancouver

Faculty
Gwendoline Allison — Foy Allison Law, West Vancouver
Marion R. Buller — Chief Commissioner, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry, Vancouver
Sara Forte — Forte Law Corporation, Surrey
Kasari Govender — Executive Director, West Coast LEAF, Vancouver
Lyndsey Hannigan — Director of Talent, Clio – Legal Practice Management Software, Burnaby
Claire Hatcher — Pender Litigation, Vancouver
Elizabeth Mah — Founder, PaperClip Law, North Vancouver, Squamish and Langley
Valerie Mann — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver
Myrna McCallum — Miyo-Pimatisiwin Legal Services, North Vancouver
Bena Stock — Associate Director, Lawyers Assistance Program of BC
Teresa Tomchak — Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, Vancouver
Katie Wyka — Performance Coach, Clio – Legal Practice Management Software, Burnaby

Click here for full faculty bios »

Welcome and Introduction

Jennifer Marles — Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP, Vancouver

What Does It Mean To Thrive?

Definition of thriving to set the stage for the day

Allison Wolf — Lawyer Coach, Shift Works Strategic Inc., Vancouver

Part I — Say Yes To You: Create The Career and Life You Want

Panelists share personal stories on how they created a career and life that works for them.

Kasari Govender — Executive Director, West Coast LEAF, Vancouver
Elizabeth Mah — Founder, PaperClip Law, North Vancouver, Squamish and Langley
Valerie Mann — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver

Workshop: Strategic Planning For Your Career and Life

Designing your life deliberately! This session aims to challenge your thinking about what is possible for your work, career, pursuits and life. Through a series of questions, we will explore both possibility and practicality in the design (or redesign) of your work and life. For each of these five questions, you’ll hear a story, learn a few prompts, reflect on your own thoughts and then take a stab at articulating your “answer” to someone else. You could walk away with any of the following: validation of your current design, discovery of new insights about what you want, and/or new ways to realize what you want.

Katie Wyka — Performance Coach, Clio – Legal Practice Management Software, Burnaby
Lyndsey Hannigan — Director of Talent, Clio – Legal Practice Management Software, Burnaby

Break

Part II — Thriving Through The Downers

Panelist will share her personal story on working through the downers.

Myrna McCallum — Miyo-Pimatisiwin Legal Services, North Vancouver

Workshop: Overcoming the Confidence Gap With Self-Advocacy and Self Promotion Skills and Strategies to Achieve Success and Thrive

This session will show you how to lay the foundation for a successful career. It will include experiential exercises that offer you the opportunity to explore your strengths and better understand where and how they fit into your organization.  You will walk away with something concrete to inspire you to have the confidence to ask for what you need, when you need it.

Bena Stock — Associate Director, Lawyers Assistance Program of BC

Networking Lunch (provided) 

Tips and Strategies for Neutralizing the Bullies

This presentation will provide tips and tactics for dealing with bad behaviour in litigation practice and encountered from colleagues or from parties engaged in a transaction. There may be role play opportunities for an interactive element.

Gwendoline Allison — Foy Allison Law, West Vancouver
Claire Hatcher — Pender Litigation, Vancouver

Break 

Part III — Thriving Day-to-Day: Strategies for Creating and Managing Energy

Panelists share personal stories on how they thrive day-to-day.

Sara Forte — Forte Law Corporation, Surrey
Teresa Tomchak — Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, Vancouver

Workshop: Invigorate Your Day to Thrive Through the Grind

Presentation and group work on identifying and minimizing negative energy drains and strategies for building and maintaining positive energy.

Allison Wolf — Lawyer Coach, Shift Works Strategic Inc., Vancouver

Closing Keynote

Marion R. Buller — Chief Commissioner, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry, Vancouver

Reception