CBABC News

At its Annual General Meeting, the Canadian Bar Association honours members of the legal profession whose contributions to the Association, the legal profession, and the justice system mark them as deserving of special recognition. We were so pleased to see three people from BC honoured this year with National awards. From everyone at CBABC — congratulations!

The CBA’s highest award recognizes a lifetime of outstanding service and professional achievement to the benefit of the legal profession, the CBA, and society at large. This year’s honoree is barbara findlay, QC who has litigated many queer and trans rights cases in her 45-year career, including the right for co-mothers to be parents on a birth certificate. She was co-founder of SOGIC (the CBA’s national and regional sections focused on sexual orientation and gender identity) and the 2021 recipient of the Georges A Goyer, QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service.

Lee (Lisa) Nevens was presented the Touchstone Award, which celebrates the accomplishments of an individual or an organization who has excelled in promoting equality in the legal profession, the judiciary, or the legal community in Canada. Lee is a civil litigator for the Department of Justice Canada in Vancouver. They are an elected Director on the CBABC Board, have co-chaired SOGIC for many years, and are chair of BC’s Legal Equity and Diversity Roundtable. Lee has led, organized, and facilitated countless education and advocacy projects, with an emphasis on trans issues.

CBABC’s Knowledge & Information Systems Manager, Judy Yen, was presented the Jack Innes Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the CBA by a current staff member who exhibits creativity, innovation, leadership, and commitment. For more than a decade, Judy has applied her broad range of technical and analytical skills to uncover valuable insights into CBA members’ behaviour and needs, introduce streamlined processes, and improve the experience of members and staff alike. As CBA-Alberta’s Executive Director put it, “Whether they know it or not, all of CBA has benefited from Judy’s qualities and competencies.”

CBABC proudly honours excellence in BC's legal profession.

Submit your nominations by April 30 at cbabc.org/awards.