Come hear from four lawyers who have been involved in public interest litigation as they describe the work they have done and the lessons they have learned along the way. They will each offer reflections on the challenges and opportunities for carrying out public interest litigation and other public interest legal initiatives in different contexts: at a non-profit organization, at Legal Aid, at a law school clinic and in private practice. This session will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about the current environment for public interest lawyering in Alberta as well as those considering public interest legal careers.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022
12 - 1 p.m. (MT)
Online

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This event is presented in partnership with the Visiting Speakers' Committee of the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta.

Gabriel Chen

Gabriel is Senior Counsel, Litigation Services, at Calgary Legal Guidance, Alberta’s largest and first non-profit legal clinic. Gabriel specializes in the intersection of law with poverty, housing insecurity, and mental health, and was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40, is recipient of the Arthur R. Smith Award for service to Calgary’s homeless community, the Alberta Civil Liberties Award was profiled in the Telus Optik documentary series "Alberta Mavericks."

Dane Bullerwell

Dane is Associate General Counsel at Legal Aid Alberta, where he leads a variety of corporate and roster initiatives, acts as counsel in interventions of interest to the organization, and maintains a limited criminal appellate practice. Prior to joining LAA, Dane was legal counsel to the Court of Appeal of Alberta and worked for several years in private criminal defence practice. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law and will be teaching Evidence at the Faculty during the Fall 2022 semester. Dane lives in Edmonton with his wife, two children, and golden retriever.

Avnish Nanda

Avnish is a community lawyer who specializes in public law litigation. Avnish routinely acts for litigants in public interest matters advancing constitutional arguments that aim to achieve systemic or structural changes to the law and government policy. He has argued constitutional cases before the Alberta Court of Appeal, the British Columbia Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. He taught a course on the intersection of environmental rights and Charter Rights at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law and regularly publishes op-eds in the Edmonton Journal.

Christine Laing

Christine is a clinician and Executive Director of the UCalgary Public Interest Law Clinic, where she carries a range of litigation and law reform projects on behalf of civil society organizations. She involves upper year law students in systemic advocacy through applied clinical coursework, and she examines the intersection of cause lawyering and social movements in a companion Public Interest Theory course. When she isn’t on duty, Christine wrangles two children, frets about her southern Alberta hay crop, and learns as much as she can from community organizers.

Anna Lund: Moderator

Anna (she/her) is an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta. She researches and teaches in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency, civil procedure, access to justice, and housing.