July 2025 Newsletter: News from the BCLI!
July 11, 2025
BY British Columbia Law Institute
Now Accepting Nominations: Join BCLI’s Board of Directors
BCLI is currently seeking nominations for two dedicated and visionary individuals to join our Board of Directors.
We are an independent not-for-profit law reform agency that works to improve and modernize laws. Since 1997, we have been conducting law reform projects in the public interest in BC. Our reports, study papers and tools recommend just and innovative solutions that strengthen legal frameworks and enhance access to justice. We are committed to deepening our work through new and innovative projects and expanding our reach to strengthen implementation.
Our recently launched Reconciling Crown Legal Frameworks Program seeks to integrate research and education to support recognition of Indigenous legal frameworks and enable legal pluralism. Our other recent projects involve family law, housing law, land and tort law.
Board members play a critical governance role, contributing expertise to shape strategic direction, ensure accountability, and champion our mission in the broader legal and public policy landscape. The Board meets three times per year, and members are also asked to participate in our Board committees. Terms are three years, with the option to renew.
We welcome nominations from individuals with diverse backgrounds:
- Legal professionals, academics, and researchers
- Indigenous legal perspectives and worldviews
- Expertise in fundraising, governance, communications or finance
- Young professionals and individuals with experience in equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives
Deadline to apply: August 15, 2025
Learn more and submit a nomination: www.bcli.org/job_post/board-nomination-2025.
Announcing the Winner of the 2025 BCLI Mathew Good Memorial Prize
BCLI, with the support of the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia (CBABC), is pleased to announce that Manjot K. Sekhon is the winner of the first annual 2025 Mathew Good Memorial Prize, an essay contest for law students. This year’s theme focused on access to justice and law reform.
Manjot is a 2025 graduate of Thompson Rivers University’s Faculty of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of British Columbia and is passionate about the intersection of law, social justice, and advocacy.
Her winning paper, Balancing the Scales: The Need for Reform of Judicial Guidelines to Balance Support for Self-Represented Litigants and Uphold Public Confidence looks at how the judicial system can better address the needs of self-represented litigants while upholding public confidence. It explores the challenges faced by judges as decision makers, examines the broader impact of self-represented litigants on the legal system, and proposes reforms.
The Mathew Good Memorial Prize recognizes outstanding legal writing on issues of access to justice. The prize includes a $1,000 award, generously sponsored by the Law Foundation of British Columbia. Manjot’s paper is available to read on BCLI’s website and will be published in BarTalk by the CBABC.
Congratulations, Manjot!
Spotlight on Economic Abuse in Family Businesses
Financial abuse isn’t always obvious especially when it happens within family-run businesses or small partnerships.
Our staff lawyer Alison Wilkinson is helping bring attention to this often-overlooked issue while highlighting our recently published Study Paper on Understanding Economic Abuse through Family Businesses in Family Law. She recently joined CBC’s Daybreak Kamloops with Shelley Joyce to talk about breakups and financial abuse in small business partnerships. Listen to the interview here (segment starts at 32:30).
Alison also contributed an article to the Kamloops Chronicle, offering deeper insight into economic abuse in family businesses. Read it here.
BCLI Research Helped Shape New Commercial Liens Act
BCLI’s 2003 Report on the Uniform Liens Act played a key role in shaping BC’s new Commercial Liens Act, which was passed in 2022 and came into force on June 30, 2025.
The new law replaces outdated rules, streamlining lien processes and reducing risks and costs for those working in commercial services.
Learn more in a blog post by our Board Chair Ed Wilson and Joel Schachter.
n June, BCLI’s Board of Directors met in person for the first time in a long while, after years of virtual and occasional hybrid meetings. The full-day session included regular operational updates, a presentation on our upcoming Study Paper on Indigenous-Led Conflict Resolution, and a strategic discussion on BCLI’s future directions.
On May 28 and 29, BCLI hosted the Federation of Law Reform Agencies of Canada (FOLRAC) Conference in Vancouver.
Day 1 focused on legal pluralism and opened with a Territorial Welcome by Leah George-Wilson and remarks from Chief Justice Leonard Marchand. A highlight of the day was the presentation of the King’s Coronation Medal to Professor Val Napoleon by the Law Commission of Canada. The day continued with powerful conversations on legal pluralism in BC and beyond. In the afternoon, law reform representatives from seven provinces (AB, BC, MB, SK, ON, QC, and NS) came together to discuss how to better communicate law reform work to broader audiences.
Day 2, developed in partnership with Access to Justice BC, opened with remarks from Chief Justice Ron Skolrood and featured two thoughtful panels on law reform and access to justice. The first explored how law reform can help advance access to justice, while the second focused on strategies to engage the public through that lens.
Thank you to all the speakers, partners, and attendees who made this national gathering such a meaningful and collaborative event.
We’re excited to share that Maria (Masha) Michouris, our former Articling Student, has officially entered the legal profession! She took her Barrister and Solicitor’s Oath on May 26th, with her call to the bar ceremony held on June 13th. Masha completed her articling with guidance and support from our senior staff lawyer Kevin Zakreski, who served as her principal.
