Sentencing 2024

Course Chairs
Mila Shah — Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service, Vancouver
Kevin B. Westell — Pender Litigation, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Mila Shah is Crown Counsel with the Criminal Appeals office in Vancouver. She regularly argues appeals in the BC Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining the Crown, Mila was criminal defence counsel for several years, with a focus on appellate litigation.

Mila is an advocacy advisor for the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, and she co-teaches a course on preventing wrongful convictions at UBC Allard School of Law.

Kevin Westell is a founding principal at Pender Litigation. In addition to his criminal and regulatory defence work, he is often retained to act as Crown Counsel, counsel for witnesses in criminal proceedings, and as amicus curiae (counsel for the court). He has represented clients and the Crown in jurisdictions across Canada on matters at all levels of seriousness.

He has represented professionals subject to proceedings before the BC Securities Commission and Office of the Police Complaints Commission, the Law Society of BC (LSBC), the College of Physical Therapists of BC, patients subject to proceedings before the BC Review Board, and amateur athletes and athletic organizations subject to proceedings before the Sports Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.

Kevin currently serves as an elected Bencher of the LSBC for Vancouver County and as the chair of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) National Criminal Justice Section.

Faculty
Justice Jennifer Duncan — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
Justice Kathleen M. Ker — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
Lauren Chu — Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service, Vancouver
Christina J. Cook — Senior Policy Lawyer, BC First Nations Justice Council, Vancouver
Stephanie Dickson — Pender Litigation, Vancouver
Jennifer Dyck — Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service, Vancouver
Claire Hatcher — Pender Litigation, Vancouver
Jacinta Lawton — Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service, Vancouver
Rebecca A. McConchie — McConchie Criminal Law, Vancouver
Kristy Neurauter — Myers, Karp, Patey & Neurauter, Vancouver
Tony Paisana — Peck and Company, Vancouver
Eric Purtzki — Fowler and Blok Criminal Defence Lawyers, Vancouver
Lesley A. Ruzicka, KC — Criminal Appeals and Special Prosecutions (Prosecution Support), Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service, Vancouver
Amandeep K. Sehmbi — Acting Provincial Director of Gladue Services Department, BC First Nations Justice Council, Vancouver
Megan Street — Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service, Vancouver
Ariana Ward — Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service, Vancouver

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