Course Chairs
Hugh S. McLellan — McLellan Herbert, Vancouver
Kimberly A. Whaley — Whaley Estate Litigation Partners, Toronto
Geoffrey W. White, KC — Geoffrey W. White Law Corporation, Counsel, Clark Wilson LLP, Kelowna & Vancouver
About the Course Chairs
Hugh McLellan, a partner in the law firm of McLellan Herbert, practices in the areas of estate litigation, estate planning, and elder law. He is a former Chair of the CBA Wills and Trusts (Vancouver) Subsection. He is the founding Vice Chair (and past Chair) of the CBA National Elder Law Section and the founding Chair of the CBA BC Elder Law Subsection. He is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Vancouver and the US National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He has served on various committees dealing with law reform in the areas of adult guardianship and wills and estates. He was awarded the CBA BC Community Service award in 2004 for his involvement with mental health and elder issues.
Hugh is the author of numerous articles on estate litigation, estate planning and elder law, co-editor of Financial and Estate Planning for the Mature Client in British Columbia (LexisNexis, 2000), a contributor to BC Representation Agreement Act, Adult Guardianship Act and Related Statutes (Carswell, 2000), and is an associate editor of the Estates and Trusts Reports. He is a frequent lecturer for various professional and community programs.
Kimberly Whaley, CS, TEP, LLM, Founding Partner, Whaley Estate Litigation Partners (WEL Partners) a litigation firm in Toronto, practicing throughout Ontario and repeatedly ranked by Canadian Lawyer as one of Canada's Top 5 Boutique Trusts & Estates Firms.
Kimberly is a non-practicing solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and designated as a Certified Specialist in Estates and Trusts Law by the Law Society of Ontario. She is also a TEP with the Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners (STEP) worldwide.
Kimberly regularly presents and chairs programs with the LSO, OBA/CBA, and other organizations. Kimberly is a leader in the community in her elder law initiatives serving as Civilian Co-chair on a Toronto Police Services Consultative Committee and on SEAC (Seniors Expert Advisory Committee), as well as consulting on policy and reform.
Fun Facts: Kim scuba dives, has hiked Machu Pichu, has driven along most of the Californian Coast with her daughter (listening to every Taylor Swift song ever made). She has tried guinea pig and alpaca, swam with sharks (in all senses of the words), ran half and full marathons, white water kayaked, rappelled down multi story buildings, and taken lots of pictures with her new Nikon Z7.
Geoff White, KC has 25+ years of expertise in wills, trusts, estates and elder law matters. He acts as counsel for Clark Wilson LLP and assists clients both in Vancouver and at his "heritage" office in Kelowna. He is a frequent author and lecturer for both the legal community and others.
Geoff is the past Chair of the Law Foundation of BC, the past Chair of the CBA National Elder Law Section, and the founding Chair of the Okanagan Chapter of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He is an editor of CLEBC BC Probate & Estate Administration Practice Manual, which is acknowledged as the primary source for all estate matters in the province, and he helped to design the lawyer education programs for BC's Wills, Estate and Succession Act, which took effect in 2014.
Faculty
Daniel Fisher — Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP, Toronto
Laura Johnston — Health Justice, Vancouver
Audrey Jun — KMK Law, Vancouver
David A. Klein — Klein Lawyers LLP, Vancouver
Kevin Love — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver
Course Materials Contributor
Melissa Miller — Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP, Toronto
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