BC Law Institute Announces Changes on the Board of Directors

BC Law Institute Announces Changes on the Board of Directors

October 7, 2019

BY Chelsea Szafranski

On September 11^th, the British Columbia Law Institute held its Annual General Meeting and is pleased to announce the Executive Committee for 2019-2020:

• Thomas L. Spraggs, Chair
• Mathew P. Good, Vice Chair
• Margaret H. Mason, Q.C., Treasurer
• Oliver A. Fleck, Secretary
• Lisa A. Peters, Q.C.
• Emily L. Clough
• Kathleen Cunningham, Executive Director, Ex Officio Committee Member

BCLI welcomes the following new Board Members:

• James Deitch (Member at Large): James practiced as a sole practitioner in Toronto before accepting a management position with the BC Legal Services Society in 1998. He has worked for the Criminal Justice Reform Secretariat, the Justice Services Branch of the Ministry of Justice in Victoria and was appointed to the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission. Since retirement, James has performed voluntary board activity, done consulting work and was appointed the Alternate Chair of the BC Review Board in June 2019.
• Michelle LeBaron: Michelle is the appointee of the Dean of the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, Michelle is a conflict transformation scholar/practitioner and a tenured Professor of Law at the Allard School of Law who has done seminal work in many types of conflict engagement. Her current research focuses on dialogic approaches to political and religious conflict, and on how the arts help shift intractable conflicts.
• Dylan Merrick (Member at Large): Dylan works primarily in the enterprise software industry, developing web applications for large scale business use. In 2010, he worked in the Arbitrage division of BNP Paribas in Paris, France, developing derivative pricing and trading applications and has also co-founded a patient-focused application startup for the healthcare sector. Dylan is currently working for Salesforce in Vancouver.
• Timothy Outerbridge (Member at Large): Tim has served as the Registrar of the BC Court of Appeal since 2014 performing judicial and quasi-judicial functions, including conducting registrar’s hearings, assessments and other matters set out by Statute or the Rules of Court or as referred by an appellate judge. He manages the Office of the Registrar providing legal, technical and procedural direction to the Registry and its staff in addition to overseeing the Court’s case management system and the development of new technologies.

• Leanne Rebantad: Leanne is the appointee of the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia. A Notary Public for thirty years, Leanne is currently the Society’s Staff Notary, Practice Advisor and Deputy Secretary. She is an experienced Arbitrator and Mediator and a member of ADRBC.

BCLI expresses its sincere gratitude to those whose terms have come to an end:

• Susan Mercer: Susan served as a Director and was a Member of the Program Committee and Strata Property Project Advisory Committee.
• Dylan T. Mazur: Dylan served as a Director and was a Member of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee, and Nominating Committee.
• Brent B. Olthuis: Served as a Director and was a Member of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee, and Program Committee. Brent’s term ended October 3^rd.  
• Janis Sarra: Janis served as a Director and Program Committee Member.

BCLI would especially like to thank Andrea L. Rolls for her many years of service as Board Director. During her tenure she served as Vice Chair and served on the Nominating Committee; Strategic Planning Committee; Audit, Finance and Risk Committee, and Executive Committee. She also served as Chair of the Older Women’s Dialogue Project Advisory Committee.

“I am pleased to welcome our new members and the board thanks outgoing directors for their many years of service, valuable contributions and wise guidance,” says Board Chair, Thomas Spraggs.

In delivering his annual report to members, Chair Thomas Spraggs noted “it is important to pause at least once per year to be proud of the past, confident in the present and hopeful for the future.” Some highlights of the past year included 3 completed projects, 2 new projects, 4 continuing projects and 9 publications.

Within community, highlights include attendance at the Law Foundation of BC’s 50^th Anniversary and the Uniform Law Conference of Canada’s annual meeting, where BCLI’s Executive Director, Kathleen Cunningham, was appointed Chair of the civil section for the upcoming year.

The British Columbia Law Institute is the successor to BC’s Law Reform Commission. Established in 1997, the BCLI is an independent, non-partisan law reform agency and registered charity. In 2018, BCLI celebrated the 15^th anniversary of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL).