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Guest Speaker: Lisa Lang

January 18, 2021 @ 5:00 PM 6:00 PM

Lisa K. Lang currently serves as the General Counsel for Kentucky State University, a role she has had for three years. Lisa first began her career as a lawyer working as an associate attorney specializing in insurance defense for a law firm in Louisville, Kentucky. She left that firm in 2008 to work for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She first worked in the Office of the Attorney General as an Assistant Attorney General and then for the Kentucky Department of Education in a variety of in-house counsel roles until taking her current position at Kentucky State.

Guest Speaker: Rolando Aguilera

December 17, 2020 @ 5:00 PM 6:00 PM

Committed to working with people and communities that have been historically impeded from accessing legal services.

Legal Counsel with experience in both private and public law settings. Solid experience in civil litigation; tort, contract, and Aboriginal Law.

Currently working as legal counsel to the Assistant Deputy Attorney General of the Indigenous Justice Division at the Ministry of the Attorney General. 

Guest Speaker: Etienne Esquega

December 17, 2020 @ 11:00 AM 12:00 PM

Etienne has experience in dealing with a wide range of legal issues and has appeared on numerous occasions before administrative tribunals, the courts of Ontario and the Federal Court of Canada. Etienne also routinely provides advice and representation on governance, negotiations, strategy and corporate/commercial matters.

Etienne offers general legal services and advice on the following areas:

  • ABORIGINAL LAW
  • COMMERCIAL LAW
  • CIVIL LITIGATION
  • EMPLOYMENT LAW

Etienne was born and raised in Thunder Bay. He is a member of the Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek (Rocky Bay First Nation) and grew up with his grandparents. After graduating from Port Arthur Collegiate Institute he went on to further his studies at the University of Windsor where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Political Science.  

Etienne attended Osgood Hall Law School and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2005. Etienne has been in private practice since his call to the bar and has had the privilege of being exposed to many areas of civil litigation and general counsel files earlier on in his career. This experience helped Etienne develop the skills which now assist him in finding the most practical and efficient solutions for his client’s legal issues.

Guest Speaker: Helen Lightstone

December 15, 2020 @ 5:00 PM 6:00 PM

Helen Lightstone is a Chartered Mediator, with a Master of Laws in Dispute Resolution from York University Osgoode Hall Law School. Dubbed “the Mediation Lady” by her students, Helen is also a respected and experienced professor of Mediation – Alternative Dispute Resolution. The Mediation Lady is also a licensed paralegal, and member of the Law Society of Ontario. In addition she is an avid traveler and a keen photographer! 

Guest Speaker: Grazia Condello

December 14, 2020 @ 5:00 PM 6:00 PM

Ms. Condello is a partner in the law firm, Neuberger & Partners LLP. She joined with Joseph A. Neuberger, in 1998. She was part of the first group of paralegals to be licensed by the Law Society of Ontario.

Ms. Condello’s areas of practice include defending clients charged with criminal summary conviction matters, Provincial Offences and Small Claims Court. In addition to her practice, she assist lawyers with the defence of many high-profile and complex criminal cases, involving the review of disclosure and evidence, the preparation of the exam and cross examination of witnesses, and legal research.

Education

Ms. Condello graduated from Mohawk College of Applied Arts Law Clerk program in 1996, and became certified in Civil Litigation through the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario in 1997. She completed the Osgoode Hall Certificate program in Provincial Offences Court Practice. Currently, she is enrolled in a Bachelor of Laws program at the University of London and pursuing a law degree on a part time basis.

Guest Speaker: Caryma Sa’d

December 10, 2020 @ 4:30 PM 5:30 PM

Caryma Sa’d is a lawyer practicing in the areas of criminal and landlord/tenant law. She has a budding cannabis practice. Her firm works closely with cannabis activists and entrepreneurs, as well as individual patients and recreational consumers. She is the executive director of NORML Canada, a national public interest group that aims to eliminate all civil and criminal penalties for private cannabis use.

An educator at heart, Caryma is frequently called upon by the media as a trusted source for their news stories. Her cases and legal commentary have been featured by mainstream media outlets including Associated Press, BNN Bloomberg, CBC, Canadian Lawyer, CityNews Toronto, CP24, CTV, Global Toronto, Globe and Mail, Law Times, Ming Pao, Sing Tao, StarMetro Vancouver, Toronto Star, and VICE News.

Caryma articled at a top-tier Bay Street litigation boutique where she had the opportunity to work under the direct tutelage of some of Canada’s leading litigators. She was selected for a secondment to one of the Big Five banks.

Caryma graduated cum laude from the University of Ottawa in 2015. She was ranked 1st out of 265 students in English Common Law during her first year, and received several prizes for academic excellence. She was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship in support of her research on the intersection between law, identity politics, and gender-based violence.

Prior to attending law school, Caryma interned with a prominent human rights organization in India. She wrote and illustrated a simplified guide to domestic violence legislation, which has since been circulated to thousands of at-risk women across the country.

Guest Speaker: Deputy Judge Robert Besunder

December 9, 2020 @ 5:00 PM 6:00 PM

Deputy Judge Robert Besunder is a sole practitioner lawyer and mediator. He has over 30 years of experience in personal injury litigation, representing both injured claimants and insurers.

He also offers mediation and arbitration services are through Besunder Dispute Resolution.

Outside of legeal services, Robert also offers online educational webinars and in-person seminars and workshops for the legal and ADR communities through Besunder Learning. 

Guest Speaker: Judit Schonwald

December 8, 2020 @ 5:00 PM 6:00 PM

20 years of international experience both in the legal field and out of it, contributes greatly to my current profession. My professional motto can be summed up by the greatest philosopher of the 20th Century , Ayn Rand who said:

“A career requires the ability to sustain a purpose over a long period of time, through many separate steps, choices, decisions, adding up to a steady progression toward a goal. In the course of a career, every achievement is an end in itself and, simultaneously, a step toward further achievements. In a career, there is no such thing as achieving too much: the more one does, the more one loves one’s work.” 

Guest Speaker: Kyla Lee

December 8, 2020 @ 3:30 PM 4:30 PM

Vancouver criminal lawyer Kyla Lee has experience in a wide variety of cases. Kyla practices primarily in the area of impaired driving DUI defence, Immediate Roadside Prohibitions, and traffic tickets.

Her reputation as a tough, hard worker assists her in getting the best possible result for her clients. Kyla is never afraid to take on a difficult case and is not one to shy away from a challenge. Kyla is known for her persuasive and creative legal arguments in BC Supreme Court. She has appeared at all levels of court in British Columbia and at the Supreme Court of Canada to protect her clients’ interests.

Kyla is also a sought-out media commentator, having appeared on GlobalBC, The Lynda Steele Show, CBC News, CTV, CKNW, and other media outlets. She publishes a regular opinion column for Vancouver is Awesome entitled “Unpopular Opinion.” Kyla also hosts a weekly video webseries, called Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t and a regular podcast entitled Driving Law.

She is a member of the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association, the DUI Defence Lawyers Association, the National College of DUI Defence, and is the founder of the Canadian Impaired Driving Lawyers Association.