The Continuum of Legal Education in Truth and Reconciliation 2025

• Law Society of Yukon, Statement of Commitment to Reconciliation (PDF)
• Law Society of Alberta, Truth and Reconciliation
• Law Society of British Columbia, Truth and Reconciliation
• Law Society of Manitoba, Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
• Law Society of New Brunswick, Statement on Residential Schools and Day Schools
• Law Society of Northwest Territories, Working Towards Reconciliation
• Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Truth and Reconciliation Committee
• Law Society of Ontario, Indigenous Initiatives
• Law Society of Saskatchewan Truth and Reconciliation
• FLSC, Responding to the Calls to Action
• FLSC, Spotlight on Truth and Reconciliation

Cet événement utilise l’application « Interprefy » pour l’interprétation simultanée. Veuillez utiliser le guide de l’utilisateur ci-dessous.

Interprefy

Honourable Gerald M Morin, Retired Judge of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan

Gerald M Morin is a retired Judge from the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. He has been involved in the criminal justice system from 1973-2023 as a probation officer, assistant professor, law student, lawyer and judge. He has been recognized for his work as an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC), Kings Counsel (KC) and as Indigenous Peoples Counsel (IPC). He says he is trying to retire but he is still doing some work within the legal community.

Andrea Hilland, KC, Assistant Professor, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia

Andrea Hilland, KC is a member of the Nuxalk Nation and an Assistant Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Her research examines the intersections of Indigenous laws, Aboriginal rights, and environmental regulation to challenge discriminatory theories of colonial supremacy and Indigenous inferiority that are perpetuated through the contemporary colonial legal system. Key objectives of her research are to support the resurgence of Indigenous laws and to demonstrate the potential of Indigenous laws to enhance Canada's multi-juridical legal system.

Professor Hilland has extensive experience in legal practice. Prior to entering academia, she advocated on behalf of First Nations to assert Aboriginal rights with respect to environmental issues, advised non-governmental organizations regarding Indigenous issues in the context of legal regulation, and was appointed King's Counsel in 2021. She also served as Associate Director of Indigenous Legal Studies at Allard Law from 2008-2012.

Barbra Bailey, Manager, Education, Law Society of Alberta

Barbra is the Manager, Education at the Law Society of Alberta. She oversees a team working in the areas of professional development and lawyer competence, resource development, lawyer well-being, equity, diversity and inclusion and Indigenous initiatives.

Barbra received her BA and JD from the University of Saskatchewan. She has been working in lawyer regulation for 14 years (first at the Law Society of Saskatchewan and now at the Law Society of Alberta), in the areas of policy and education.

The Law Society of Alberta’s Education department developed and carries out the continued implementation of the Indigenous Cultural Competence Education requirement for lawyers in Alberta and is responsible for administering the Law Society’s continuing professional development program, which is grounded in the Professional Development Profile.

Barbra also serves as the Vice-Chair of the Alberta Law Libraries Board.

Brian Calliou, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary

Brian began his career as an associate with Tony Mandamin in Edmonton, Alberta, before starting his own practice in the areas of Aboriginal law, small business and non-profit law, real estate, and personal injury.

He has been involved in community and economic development initiatives with Aboriginal agencies, organizations and entrepreneurs for many years.

From 2003 to 2021, Brian held the role as Program Director of Indigenous Leadership Programs at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where he developed the Wise Practices model for the training and development of Indigenous leadership, governance and community economic development. He has developed and taught courses as a sessional instructor for the School of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and for the Faculty of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary. His current research includes the Indigenous legal profession, Indigenous leadership, management and governance, Indigenous law, and Indigenous economic development.

Brian is a member of the Sucker Creek First Nation in northern Alberta.

Cara-Marie O’Hagan, Executive Director of Policy, Equity & External Relations, Law Society of Ontario

Cara-Marie O’Hagan is the Executive Director of Policy, Equity & External Relations (“PEER”) at the Law Society of Ontario. The PEER Division provides benchers with research and analysis of policy options and strategic advice on equity and reconciliation. issues management, stakeholder relations and policy implementation.

Before joining the Law Society in 2017, Cara was the Vice President of Stakeholder Relations and Member Communications for OMERS, the municipal pension plan in Ontario. Before assuming that position, Cara worked as the Director of Policy for several ministers, including the former Attorney General.

Cara also served as the director of Toronto Metropolitan University’s (formerly Ryerson) Law Research Centre and, in that role, led a team in the winning proposal for the Law Practice Program. The LPP combines online and in-person learning that replicates the law firm experience using actors, simulation tools and real time scenarios.

Catherine Banning, Law Society Bencher

(Margaret) Catherine Banning is a proud Nishnaabe-qwe band member of Fort William First Nation and lifetime resident of Northwestern Ontario. She is currently General Manager for Maawandoon Inc., an aboriginal business specializing in indigenous engagement, capacity and infrastructure development, First Nation Governance Policy and Procedure Development. She was appointed the Ratification Officer for Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek Land Code development and Matrimonial Real Property Law. Prior to First Nations work, Catherine spent 27 years in the financial services sector as Chief Credit Officer managing a 5-branch institution, 45 employees, adjudicating a 70-million-dollar loan portfolio. In 2003, Catherine was awarded the Ontario Credit Union

Professional of the Year. She has served on the Friends of Chippewa Park, the Nor’West Community Health Centre, Fort William First Nation Remembrance Day Committee and Credit Union Manager’s Association. All that aside she is a hobby farmer living in Ware Ontario.

Christine Johnston (B.ED., JD), Admissions and Education Counsel, Law Society of Saskatchewan

Christine Johnston is Admissions and Education Counsel at the Law Society of Saskatchewan. Her role includes working in continuing professional development, legal resource development, and with the Law Society’s Truth and Reconciliation Advisory Group.

Christine received her B.Ed and JD from the University of Saskatchewan. She spent fourteen years practicing corporate commercial and securities law, first at a large Saskatchewan law firm and then as in-house counsel at a Saskatchewan biotechnology company. She was involved in bar admissions education for more than eight years – as a facilitator and skills evaluator, as Program Director of the former CPLED Bar Admissions Program, and as Manager of Education at CPLED where she was involved in all aspects of the development and launch of the Practice Readiness Education Program.

Christine is also the author of the Saskatchewan Queen’s Bench Rules – Annotated.

Deborah Wolfe, Executive Director, National Committee on Accreditation and Law School Programs, Federation of Law Societies of Canada

Deborah Wolfe is the Executive Director, National Committee on Accreditation and Law Schools Programs with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The NCA is a certification program for internationally educated lawyers and law graduates, or graduates of a Canadian civil law program, who wish to be admitted to a common law bar in Canada. Ms. Wolfe also leads the process to approve Canadian common law, law school programs. Ms. Wolfe is the Past-Chair of the Association of Accrediting Agencies of Canada, a board member of the Vimy Foundation, a former President of the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation (a charity that encourages girls to become engineers), and a former Chair of the Canadian Network of Agencies for Regulation. Ms. Wolfe is a former Military Engineer with the Canadian Armed Forces.

Dianne Corbiere, Managing Partner, Nahwegahbow Corbiere

Dianne Corbiere is the Managing Partner of the Firm. Dianne has dedicated her career to working for First Nations. She has vast experience working in Indigenous law and Aboriginal law specializing in advocating for the rights for First Nations across Canada.

Dianne received her Honours Bachelor of Social Work from Laurentian University and her LLB from the University of Toronto. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1998 and became a partner in her law firm in 2000.

Dianne has received some awards and acknowledgements for her professional work. She was honoured to receive the Law Society Medal in 2024. She received the 2019 Indspire Award – Law & Justice. In 2013, Dianne received the Indigenous People’s Counsel (IPC) designation from the Indigenous Bar Association. In 2012, Dianne was recognized as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in the ‘Changemaker’ category by Canadian Lawyer magazine.

She served as a Bencher (from 2015 to 2022) for the Law Society of Ontario. She is presently a representative from the Law Society of Ontario on the Federation of Law Societies of Canada TRC Calls to Action Advisory Committee.; She is the past President and Board member of the Indigenous Bar Association and past Chair of the National Secretariat on Hate and Racism Canada.

Dianne is Anishinaabe kwe from M’Chigeeng First Nation and she and her husband Greg have two adult children.

Eileen Derksen, Director of Continuing Professional Development, Law Society of Manitoba

Eileen attended law school at the University of Manitoba and received her Call to the Bar in 1995. She practised at the Public Trustee of Manitoba and also spent a few years as an Elder Abuse Consultant before joining the Law Society of Manitoba in 2007 as Program Counsel. Eileen has been Director of Continuing Professional Development since 2014.

Gavin Cazon-Wilkes, Legal Counsel, Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge

Gavin is a Treaty 11, status band member of the Liidlii Kue First Nation located in Fort Simpson, the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories. Gavin is passionate about family, the reclamation of a voice through educational environments, Indigenous advocacy, and Indigenous legal assertion. In the legal academic setting, he has worked towards fair representation in this type of system to make meaningful change towards the expansion of opportunities, Indigenous legal implementation, and Indigenous legal preservation. He has had a seat on Indigenous committees, worked within varying Indigenous communities, currently with the Indigenous Alumni Advisory Committee, and previously as a first-year representative on the Indigenous Law Students’ Association (ILSA) (2020/21), ILSA Representative on the Law Students’ Association (2021/22), Chair of ILSA (2022/23), and Articling Student Representative on the National Indigenous Law Students’ Association. Gavin is Legal Counsel with the Wahkohtowin Law and Governance Lodge, and seeks to continue developing skills in Indigenous law, self-governance, negotiation, dispute resolution, mediation, Indigenizing colonial Western common law, and legal advocacy and assertion through a multi-juridical approach.

Kathy, Director of Admissions, Law Society of New Brunswick

Kathy graduated from UNB law in 2013 and was called to the New Brunswick Bar in 2014. After a brief career in civil litigation, she opened Kathy Lewis Law as a sole practitioner, focusing on Family and Criminal Law. She obtained her Master of Criminology and Criminal Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands in 2019. After a few years working in policy and the non-profit sector, she took the position of Director of Admissions with the Law Society of New Brunswick in 2021. She lectures in criminology and human rights at St. Thomas University, and coaches in their international moot program. Passionate about access to justice, professional competency, and radical empathy, Kathy loves coffee and lawyer jokes.

Karen Wilford, Member, CCLD-FLSC Joint Working Group on Approaches to TRC Calls to Action

Karen is a family law practitioner whose child-focused career took her to Ontario, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories where she retired from the position of Executive Director of the Legal Aid Commission for the NWT. She has served as President of the Law Society of the NWT and Council Member of the NWT to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. In her capacity as Co-Chair of the FLSC’s TRC Calls to Action Advisory Committee, Karen participated in the development of recommendations and Guiding Principles for the Federation in fostering reconciliation in its work. In retirement, Karen continues to sit on committees of the Law Society of the NWT and the Federation which have a reconciliation focus, and makes time for singing, vegetarian cooking and theology.

Kimberly R. Murray, Associate Professor, Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Legal Studies

Kimberly Murray commenced her new role as Queen’s National Scholar in Indigenous Legal Studies on January 1, 2025, after completing a federal appointment as the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites Associated with Indian Residential Schools.

Murray has dedicated much of her legal career to promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and advocating for Indigenous communities. She was the Province of Ontario’s first ever Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Indigenous Justice (2015-2022), where she worked to support communities revitalize their Indigenous laws and expanded legal services and programs for Indigenous people.

In 2018-2019, Ms. Murray chaired the Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities, which produced the report Toward Peace Harmony, and Well-Being: Policing in Indigenous Communities.

From 2010-2015, Murray was Executive Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission working to ensure that Survivors were heard and remembered, and she promoted reconciliation across the country.

During her previous 15-year career with Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, she was staff lawyer and then Executive Director, conducting numerous law reform and public legal education activities, and appeared before all levels of court.

She has also served on numerous boards, public committees, and councils; provided advocacy in high-profile public inquiries; published numerous works, position and conference papers; taught law and undergraduate students; and has been recognized with numerous awards.

Murray, is a member of Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Nation, holds an LLM and LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School, a BA from Carleton, and honorary LLDs from Guelph/Humber, Lincoln Alexander School of Law, and the Law Society of Ontario.

Murray’s research interests include lawyering for reconciliation, decolonizing the practice of law, the revitalization of Indigenous laws, and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Lesley Small, Senior Director, Professional Development, Practice Support and Credentials, Law Society of British Columbia

Lesley Small is responsible for overseeing management of practice support for lawyers, including remedial education and intervention, admission to the bar and bar examinations through the Professional Legal Training Course, and the credentials department.

Lesley joined the Law Society 1994 and was the Manager and Deputy Director of Credentials and Licensing from 2003 to 2020. As part of the senior leadership team, she brings more than 25 years of experience at the Law Society to help guide its strategic and operational decisions.

Liza Worthington, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED)

Liza Worthington, M.B.A., BComm, BSc, FCPA, FCMA, ICD.D, specializes in leading and delivering professional education programs. She holds an M.B.A. from Heriot-Watt University and a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Calgary. She is also a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D).

Her prior experience includes overseeing the undergraduate, graduate, and continuous professional development programs at the University of Calgary’s Department of Family Medicine and the pre-certification programs at Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Alberta and Certified Management Accountants (CMA) Alberta. Liza was an instructor at Mount Royal University and CMA Alberta and is a Fellow of the CPA and CMA.

Liza is a Board Member of Right to Learn, which makes the right to education a reality for women and girls. As a life-long learner, she thrives on new challenges and transforming “what could be” into “what can be.”

Lori Mishibinijima, Program Manager & Special Adviser, Idnigenous & Reconciliation Initiatives, York University

Lori Mishibinijima is Anishinaabe from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory in Ontario. She is currently the Manager of Indigenous Initiatives at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she provides support to Indigenous students, applicants and alumni. In addition, she develops programs and initiatives that support the Indigenization of the school and curriculum. Lori was Legal Counsel with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre for 10 years, where she provided legal representation to individuals respecting matters of discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code. She also acted as coordinator and helped develop the HRLSC’s Indigenous Service where she increased access to justice for Indigenous people. For the last seventeen years, she has been a member of the Community Council, a criminal diversion program at Aboriginal Legal Services. Lori has also served as the President of Native Men’s Residence Board of Directors from 2011 to 2018, and continues as a director. She also serves on the Indigenous Bar Association Board of Directors. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Minaake Award in Advocacy and Human Rights for her contributions to the Toronto Indigenous community.

Marc Kruse, Director of Indigenous Legal Learning and Services, University of Manitoba

Marc Kruse, JD, is the Director of Indigenous Legal Learning and Services at Robson Hall. He is also an associate with Rees Dyck Rogala Law Offices, where he practices criminal defence representing youth and adult clients. His research interests focus on the relationship between philosophical ethics, political philosophy, and law, with special focus on the ways educational institutions can ameliorate or exacerbate legal problems. He has published work on the moral foundations of professional ethics, social justice education, and Indigenous educational ethics. Kruse completed his JD at the University of Manitoba and co-teaches Robson Hall’s Indigenous Course Requirement course – Indigenous Methodologies and Perspectives. He is a member of Muscowpetung First Nation in Saskatchewan.

Marissa Prosper, Project Coordinator, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society

Marissa Prosper is Mi’kmaw from Pictou Landing First Nation, where she still calls home. Marissa holds a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Francis Xaiver University and earned her Juris Doctor from Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law in 2020. During her time at Schulich, Marissa was on an executive member of Dalhousie’s Indigenous Student Association and contributed significantly to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Marissa completed her shared articles with Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO) – Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative with a focus on policy development; and with a private firm preparing Wills and Estates for Indigenous clients. In 2021, Marissa became the first Mi’kmaw woman from Pictou Landing First Nation to be Called to the Nova Scotia Bar – an achievement made even more inspiring as she became a first-time mother just three months earlier.

Marissa is a Crown Attorney at the Public Prosecution Services (PPS) in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Prior to becoming a Crown Attorney, Marissa served as Staff Lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid, practicing in Child Protection and Family Law. Marissa has appeared in all levels of Court within the province. In addition, Marissa is the Project Coordinator for the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society’s Indigenous Black and Mi’kmaq Internship Program – playing a pivotal role in creating opportunities for aspiring legal professions from underrepresented communities.

Marissa was elected Co-Chair of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society’s Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Committee in January 2025, having been a member since 2021. Marissa is also an active member of the PPS Equity and Diversity Committee, and the Eastern Door.

Marissa is also an artist and enjoys creating beadwork and ribbon skirts.

Marla Brown, Director of Equity and Access, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society

Marla Brown is the Director of Equity and Access with the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (NSBS). Marla spent over a decade working in the Ontario community legal clinic system (including the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic and Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic in Thunder Bay) where she advocated for low-income clients in the areas of housing, human rights, social assistance, criminal injuries compensation and disability justice. Prior to joining NSBS she worked for McMaster University as a Senior Human Rights Officer with the Equity and Inclusion Office where she was responsible for upholding the university's Discrimination and Harassment Policy. This included providing advisory, education, early resolution, and investigation expertise. In all the work that she has done over the years she has always strived to advanced equity, diversity, and inclusion in the various communities that she has served. Marla received a J.D. from the Dalhousie Schulich School of Law in 2011 and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from York University.

Peter C. Wardle, Treasurer, Law Society of Ontario

Peter C. Wardle was elected as Treasurer by the Law Society’s governing body (Convocation) on June 19, 2024 and he took office on June 28, 2024. The Treasurer is the top-elected official of the Law Society, which regulates Ontario’s lawyers and paralegals in the public interest. He is the Law Society’s 70th Treasurer.

Treasurer Wardle served as a bencher from 2011 to 2019 and was re-elected in 2023. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1986.

He is a partner with the Commercial and Business Litigation and Professional Liability Practice Groups at Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP.

Treasurer Wardle has built his reputation as a recognized and trusted advocate over more than 38 years, representing parties in commercial disputes involving contract interpretation, shareholder and partnership obligations, securities, directors’ and officers’ liability, professional negligence, construction, estates and real estate.

He has appeared as counsel in many trials, applications and appeals involving shareholder and partnership disputes, securities, directors’ and officers’ liability, professional negligence, wrongful dismissal, estates and real estate development, as well as a wide variety of contractual disputes. He has also participated as counsel and as arbitrator in a number of arbitrations involving commercial issues.

In addition, Treasurer Wardle has appeared before a wide variety of regulatory tribunals. He has prosecuted a number of discipline cases on behalf of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. He has acted in a number of public inquiries, including as counsel for a group of affected families before the Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario and a citizens group in the Cornwall Public Inquiry. In 2022, he acted as lead counsel for the City of Ottawa in the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry.

He is ranked by Best Lawyers for his work in directors’ and officers’ liability and securities litigation. He is recognized by LEXPERT for his professional liability practice

and he is designated by Martindale-Hubbell as “AV® Preeminent™” — its highest peer review rating.

His external appointments include: Past director of The Advocates’ Society, and Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Priya Bhatia, Executive Director, Professional Development & Competence, Law Society of Ontario

Priya is the Executive Director, Professional Development & Competence at the Law Society of Ontario where she oversees strategic planning, policies, and programs related to entry-level and continuing competence for lawyers and paralegals.

Previously, Priya was the Manager of Licensing and Accreditation at the Law Society for several years. Priya has been actively involved in the regulatory sector and is currently the Vice Chair of the Education and Training Committee for the Council for Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR). She has also served as the President of the Association of Continuing Legal Education Directors (Canada) and the Chair of the Ontario Regulators for Accessibility Consortium.

Priya is a frequent presenter on topics of competence, licensing, and credentialing at a national and international level. Priya has a JD from the University of Ottawa and a Certificate in Adult Training and Development from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

Robin Sutherland, Director of Indigenous Relations, Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University

Robin Sutherland is a Mushkegowuk Innino who was raised in the Moose Cree First Nation (MCFN), with strong family connections to the Fort Albany First Nation (FAFN) and western James Bay Coast. Obtaining his Bachelors of Arts and Education (English and History) from Lakehead University through the Concurrent Education program, he went on to become a successful Secondary School Teacher responsible for teaching Intermediate and Senior English, Native Studies, Social Sciences, and Cooperative Education in his home community (FAFN).

After returning to Thunder Bay in 2016, he returned to Lakehead in the capacity of Aboriginal Transitions and Coordinated Learning Access Network (CLAN) Advisor, assisting the Indigenous community at Lakehead University with recruitment, retention, and outreach to local, regional, and First Nations communities, businesses, training and skills development organizations, and educational institutions. While having lived in First Nations communities, small Ontario towns, and larger urban centres, he has gained experience working with youth, adults, and elders in a variety of capacities.

Shaanzéh Ataullahjan, Executive Secretary, Law Society of Nunavut

Shaanzéh Ataullahjan was called to the Ontario bar in 2018 and the Nunavut bar in 2022. A passion for international human rights led Shaanzéh to pursue an undergraduate degree in Peace, Conflict, and Justice at the University of Toronto before entering law school at the same institution, where she worked for a human rights lawyer in Pakistan, a constitutional lawyer in Toronto, and studied abroad in Singapore. After completing law school she began her legal career at the UNHCR in South Africa. She later returned to Toronto to work at Legal Aid Ontario’s head office, and then in private practice as a refugee lawyer, before moving to Iqaluit and joining the Government of Nunavut.

Tasha Simon, Senior Specialist, Indigenous Programs, University of Ottawa

Tasha Simon is an Algonquin Anishinaabekwe and a member of Kebaowek First Nation. She is an alumna of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (JD ’20), and she also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Gender Equality and Social Justice from Nipissing University, and a Law Clerk Diploma from Canadore College. During her time at uOttawa, she was a member of the (then) Indigenous Law Student Associations (ILSA). Her lived experience as an Indigenous law learner makes her familiar to the challenges and struggles that Indigenous law learners encounter.

Simon is passionate about promoting and advocating for the rights of Indigenous people and communities, as well as Indigenous representation in the legal profession and academia. She works towards uplifting Indigenous youth and the next generation of Indigenous legal professionals through guidance and mentorship. She is an avid beader, a maker of moccasins & mittens, and a creator of ribbon skirts. She enjoys sharing these skill sets with the Indigenous learners.

In her role as Indigenous Programs Specialist, she has been instrumental in creating a warm, welcoming and loving community environment for Indigenous law learners within the law building. She organizes cultural workshops, academic panels, professional development sessions, and various other events to provide Indigenous law learners with all the supports and resources they need to be successful in their law school journey. Through a holistic approach, she provides support, guidance and mentorship to the Indigenous law learners and the Indigenous Law Student Governance (ILSG).

Teresa Donnelly, President (2024-2025), Federation of Law Societies of Canada

Teresa Donnelly was nominated as a member of the Federation Council by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) in 2022 and elected President for 2024-2025. She received her LL.B. from the University of Toronto, and was called to the Bar in 1991.

She was first elected as a Bencher with the LSO in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. Teresa then served as the law society Treasurer (President) for two years, becoming the fifth woman to hold the position in the 200-year history of the LSO. In that role, Teresa focused on the mental health of legal practitioners, reconciliation, the competence and ethical responsibilities of lawyers and paralegals, and the important role that paralegals play in access to justice in Ontario.

Teresa has been a lawyer with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General since 1994. She has been Assistant Crown Attorney in the Region of Waterloo and the County of Huron, and the Crown Attorney for the County of Huron. As West Region Sexual Violence Crown she was one of 7 full-time prosecutors in Ontario dedicated to enhancing the quality of sexual violence prosecutions and the victim’s experience in the criminal justice system. As a Crown, Teresa has been dedicated to prosecutions involving domestic and sexual violence against women and children.

This event will be located at 130 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N6.

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