Course Chairs
Ludmila B. Herbst, KC — Farris LLP, Vancouver
Ron Usher — Commissioned Notary Public, R.I., General Counsel and Practice Advisor, The Society of Notaries Public of BC, Vancouver
About the Course Chairs
Ludmila Herbst, KC is a partner at Farris, practising in the fields of commercial litigation, commercial arbitration, and regulatory law. She has represented clients before all levels of court in BC, the Federal Court, the Supreme Court of Canada, and both arbitral and administrative tribunals including the BC Utilities Commission. She was also counsel for one of the participants in the Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering. Ludmila frequently writes and presents on topics related to her practice, is the assistant editor of the Advocate, and is a co-author of Commercial Arbitration in Canada: A Guide to Domestic and International Arbitrations, which has been cited by trial and appellate courts across Canada.
Ron Usher was called to the bar in 1980, after articling in Vernon and obtaining degrees from UVic and UBC Law School. He has practiced law in private practice in Vernon and Vancouver, BC, in addition to working as in-house counsel to a Victoria computer software company.
He is the Past President of the Nidus Personal Planning Resource Centre Association, a registered charity. In addition to other community organization director appointments, he is known for his musical involvement with the Vancouver Ukulele Circle (since 2003) and the Parksville Ukulele Club.
Ron is currently General Counsel and Practice Advisor at the Society of Notaries Public of BC ("SNPBC"). He recently retired from teaching property law as a Visiting Professor in the Notary MA-ALS degree program at SFU.
On June 8, 2016, Ron was sworn in by the Supreme Court of BC as a Commissioned Notary Public, becoming the first lawyer in BC to have this appointment in addition to being a member of the Law Society.
Throughout the spring of 2016, Ron served as a member of the Independent Advisory Group appointed by the Real Estate Council of BC to inquire into and report on the regulation of real estate services in BC. In 2020 and 2021, he represented and made presentations on behalf of the SNPBC at the Cullen Commission hearings.
For eight years, Ron worked for the Law Society of BC as a lawyer responsible for real estate and related technology issues. As the staff lawyer to the Conveyancing Practices Task Force, he was very involved in issues arising out of fraud in the area of Real Estate practice. Ron was also the CEO of Juricert Services Inc.
He has served as the national chairperson of the CBA's Law Practice Management Section and has sat on the Provincial and National Councils of the CBA.
Over the past 35 years, Ron has been a guest speaker at numerous CLE, CBA, Trial Lawyers Association, the Society of Notaries Public of BC, real estate and technology seminars and meetings. He has spoken throughout Canada and the US on topics ranging from personal planning, e-filing, real estate practice, fraud, and computer technology to the role of the legal profession in society.
Ron is a member of the Society of Notaries Public of BC, the Law Society of BC, the CBA, the Real Estate Institute of BC, and the Real Estate Section of the CBA. He is also a member of the Legal Professionals Advisory Committee of the Land Title and Survey Authority of BC
Faculty
Laura L. Bevan — Lawson Lundell LLP, Vancouver
Larry S. Blaschuk — Registrar of Land Titles, Land Title and Survey Authority of BC, New Westminster
Barbara K. Buchanan, KC — Practice Advisor, Conduct and Ethics, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Peter M. German, KC, PhD — Peter German & Associates Inc., Delta
Tina Kaminski, CPA, CGA, CFE, CAMS — Audit Team Leader, Law Society of BC, Vancouver
Brock Martland, KC — Martland & Saulnier, Vancouver
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