Our Alumni

Kinwa Bluesky - LL.M.

Thesis: Art as my kabeshinan of indigenous peoples

Ilona Cairns - LL.M.

Born and brought up in the Scottish Highlands, Ilona moved to Canada after graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 2007. Prior to commencing her LL.M., she was employed by the criminal justice branch of the B.C. Ministry of Attorney General. It was during this time that her understanding of (and passion for) criminal and social justice issues really grew. However, although her current focus is on criminal and constitutional law, she has a wide and diverse range of legal interests including human rights law, feminist legal theory and international public law. Ilona began a Ph.D. program in her home country of Scotland in September 2011.

Thesis: Crimes of equality: The racial profiling paradox of Canada's 'War on Terror'

Patricia Cochran - LL.M.

Patricia Cochran is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law. Her research investigates the role of “common sense” in legal judgments, particularly when those judgments speak to issues of poverty and social marginalization. Patricia has studied both law (LL.M. from the University of Victoria, LL.B. from UBC) and political theory (M.A. from the University of Toronto, B.A. from McGill University). She has practised in the areas of anti-poverty litigation and regulatory law at the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre. Her research and teaching interests include evidence law, constitutional law, and social and legal theory.

Thesis: Taking notice: Judicial notice and practices of judgment in anti-poverty litigation

Geoffrey Conrad - LL.M.
Geoffrey's research explored the impact that increased cultural diversity has on judicial decision-making at the appellate level in Canada. Originally from Montreal, Geoffrey obtained a B.A. from Bishop's University with a major in economics before attending McGill University where he obtained degrees in civil and common law. Prior to beginning his studies at UVic, Geoffrey worked in private practice as a trial lawyer in Montreal for approximately three years. His research interests included judicial review, constitutional law, and Canadian federalism.
Thesis: Exemplars or Exceptions: Imagining Constitutional Courts in a Religiously Diverse Society

Aimée Craft - LL.M.

Aimée is a Métis lawyer from Manitoba. She has worked with various indigenous peoples from across Canada on land, resources and governance issues and is now an LL.M. candidate at the University of Victoria. Her research and writing focus on the Western Numbered Treaties and the re-interpretation of their land surrender clauses, with the hope of giving effect to the Spirit and Intent of the Treaties. This re-interpretation project is rooted in the reconciliation of Canadian legal perspectives with Indigenous legal traditions relating to lands, ownership and Treaty relationships. Aimée’s Pro Bono work includes participation in the development of Federal Court Practice Guidelines for Aboriginal Law Matters and acting as Vice-Chair of the Aboriginal Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association. In 2009, she successfully argued on behalf of language rights advocates in the first entirely French hearing at the Manitoba Court of Appeal. Aimée received her B.A. from the University of Manitoba and her LL.B. from the University of Ottawa. After submitting her LL.M. thesis, Aimée returned to her work at the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC).
Thesis: Breathing life into the Stone Fort Treaty

Nguyen Van Cuong - Ph.D.

Nguyen Van Cuong joined the UVic Law Ph.D. program in September 2008, working under the supervision of Professors Andrew Harding, William Neilson, Connie Carter (of Royal Roads University) and Jeremy Webber. Cuong’s dissertation focused on the reform of consumer laws in Vietnam, particularly legal transplantation theories, legislative theories, cultural and economic analysis of law. Before entering the University of Victoria, Cuong received an LL.B. from Hanoi University of Law (Vietnam) in 1998 and a LL.M. from Niigata University (Japan) in 2002 and was the author or co-author of numerous journal articles and books. After completing his dissertation in record breaking time—just under three years—Cuong has returned to his home country of Vietnam, his family, and his work for the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam where he was named Deputy Director of the Institute of Legal Sciences in January 2012.
Dissertation: The drafting of Vietnam’s Consumer Protection Law: An analysis from legal transplantation theories

Michael Down - LL.M.
Thesis: The most frail branch: A critique of the justifications for judicial hegemony in the interpretation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Jeanette Gevikoglu - LL.M.
Jeanette’s thesis explores the relationship between criminal law and indigenous law, with a focus on the effects of criminal justice in aboriginal communities. During her LL.M, she was the recipient of a Law Foundation of B.C. scholarship, a Lucien Ukaliannuk Award for Studies in Law from the Law Foundation of Nunavut, and the Edra Sanders Ferguson Graduate Scholarship.  She also worked as a Research Assistant to the National Aboriginal Economic Development Chair at UVic. Jeanette received her B.A. (Honours) from Queen's in 1998 and her LL.B. from McGill in 2001. She is a criminal lawyer who currently works as a crown attorney in the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is a past member of the executive of the Law Society of Nunavut and the Akitsiraq Law School Society.  Before joining the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Iqaluit, Jeanette worked as a crown attorney in Ontario and as an associate at Dewey Ballantine in New York. Jeanette takes part in Nunavut's public legal education initiatives and has past experience volunteering with local and international organizations, including Interval House and the Armenian International Policy Research Group.
Thesis: Sentenced to sovereignty: Sentencing, sovereignty, and identity in the Nunavut Court of Justice

Marta Gimenez - LL.M.

Thesis: The implementation of the WFD in France and Spain: Building up the future of water in Europe

David Hosking - LL.M.

Thesis: Protection from discrimination because of disability in European community law

Minnawaanigogiizhigok/Dawnis Kennedy - LL.M.

Dawnis Kennedy (Marten Clan) received her J.D. from the University of Toronto before joining the University of Victoria Law Faculty’s inaugural graduate class as an LL.M. student. Her masters’ thesis considered the relationship between Canadian and Anishinabe law and challenged current constructions of this relationship in Canadian aboriginal rights jurisprudence. She worked with Professors John Borrows and James Tully. While at UVic Law, she received a Law Foundation Graduate Fellowship and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Graduate Scholarship in addition to securing a Doctoral Scholarship from the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation. She is currently pursuing a SJD at the University of Toronto. Her research examines Anishinabe conceptions of law/onakonigewin, utilizing a spirit-directed, creation-centered approach uniquely suited to studying the law of respectful relations. Dawnis continues to cherish the relationships she forged at UVic Law where she was generously welcomed and hosted by both Coast Salish peoples and by the law faculty.

Thesis: Aboriginal rights, reconciliation and respectful relations

Michael Large - LL.M.

Michael's thesis explores the intersection between population demands, ecological degradation, and the law. His approach brings together green legal theory, legal pluralism, feminist legal theory, and other emancipatory theories, under the supervision of Dr. Michael M’Gonigle (Law) and Dr. Karena Shaw (Environmental Studies). Michael received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto, Ontario) in 1996, and an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Laurentian University (Sudbury, Ontario) in 1993. Michael has over ten years of legal experience in the private and public sectors, including service as Assistant General Counsel to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority in Ottawa and serving as Legal Counsel to the BC Government in Victoria. Since completing his LLM, Michael has opened his own practice, Law @ Large, providing procurement advice to buyers and bidders.

Thesis: Ecological degradation and population demands: Wicked problems and the rule of rules in Canada/America

Julie Lassonde - LL.M.

Thesis: Performing law

Sarah Marsden - LL.M.

Thesis: That's a really nice coat you're wearing: Dignity, agency, and social inclusion in the administration of welfare

Maxine Matilpi - LL.M.

Major Paper: Button blanket pedagogy

Anne Mitaru - LL.M.

Anne Mitaru obtained her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Before joining UVic Anne worked as an international human rights lawyer with a regional women's rights organisation in East Africa. While completing her LL.M. Anne worked as a Program Assistant with the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) in Manila, Philippines as part of the 2009-10 Students for Development Program, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In addition to her academic background, Anne is passionate about, and committed to the advancement and realisation of women's rights, especially the rights of women from the South, through feminist organising and the formulation and implementation of sound laws and policy at regional and international levels. Her current research interests include the continued interrogation of the relationship between law and political economy, women’s rights and international human rights law.

Thesis: Why aid efficiency will not deliver development: A feminist critique of the Aid Effectiveness Architecture and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness

Val Napoleon - Ph.D. (from UAlberta website)

Val Napoleon is of Cree heritage and is an adopted Gitksan member. Val is an associate professor with the University of Alberta teaching in the faculties of native studies and law. Her research focused on a substantive articulation of Gitksan law and the development of a Gitksan legal theory. Val was awarded the University of Victoria’s Governor General’s Gold Medal for her doctoral dissertation in June 2010. She has published in areas of indigenous legal traditions, indigenous feminism, oral histories, restorative justice, and governance. Val joined UVic Law as the Law Foundation Professor of Aboriginal Justice and Governance in January 2012.

Dissertation: Ayook: Gitksan legal order, law, and legal theory

Connie Nisbet - LL.M.
Connie is from Aotearoa/New Zealand. Her Maori heritage and general interest in all things environmental led to her current research interests. Connie’s research was carried out in partnership with the National Centre for First Nations Governance. Her thesis explores the relationships between frameworks for Indigenous governance developed by the National Centre for First Nations Governance and Indigenous and non-Indigenous theories of sustainability in both theory and practice. This includes profiling seven First Nations organisations which have been recognised as leaders in the field of environmental governance by the National Centre for First Nations Governance. Since finishing her LL.M., Connie has begun a position at the New Zealand Waitangi Tribunal.
Thesis: Living responsibilities: Indigenous notions of sustainability and governance in action

Soudeh Nouri - LL.M.
Soudeh received her LL.B. in Judicial Law from National University of Tehran (Beheshti University) in 2002 and her LL.M. degree in Private Law from Azad University of Tehran in 2007. After receiving her LL.B. degree, Soudeh joined the Women and Youth Commission of the Expediency Council of Iran as a member of a scholarly research team working on legislative amendments to reform the child’s custody provision of Iran’s Civil Code. While at the University of Victoria, Soudeh worked under the supervision of Professors Robert G. Howell, William A.W. Neilson, and Rebecca Grant (BUSI). Her thesis explores the area of interface between intellectual property law and competition law with a focus on the role of section 32 of Canada's Competition Act.
Thesis: When an Intellectual Property Right Becomes an Intellectual Property Wrong: Re-examining the Role of Section 32 of the Competition Act

Brent Olthuis - LL.M.

Thesis: Constitution's peoples: A robust and group-centred interpretation of Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, in light of R. v. Powley

Matthew Park - LL.M.

Thesis: The public trust doctrine: Ensuring the public's natural right of (perpetual) access to common resources

Daniel Parrott - LL.M.
Daniel’s research focused on the “low-skilled” component of the temporary foreign workers program in Canada. His thesis evaluated the regulatory models used in the Western provinces to determine if they protect this group of vulnerable migrant workers from abusive practices by employment agencies. Daniel has returned to his position as the Director of Legal and Education Services at the Saskatchewan Labour Standards Branch.
Thesis: The role and regulation of private, for-profit employment agencies in the British Columbia labour market and the recruitment of temporary foreign workers

Marie-Louise Potvin - LL.M.

Thesis: Oil and gas development in the British Columbia offshore: Does Canada's integrated coastal and oceans management strategy provide a framework for resolving contentious ocean use issues?

Amber Prince - LL.M.

Thesis: What's wrong with Canada's animal cruelty laws?: Bill C-50, a touchstone for change

Shaochen Qu

Shaochen's research compares and contrasts rules-based and principles-based approaches to the regulation of derivative securities and examines these approaches in the context of derivative securities regulation in Thailand and Québec.  She argued that even though Thailand, and countries at a similar stage of derivatives market development, may not be in as good a position as Québec to adopt a principles-based regulatory approach, once the derivatives market has been established, a shift to principles-based regulation is, nonetheless, likely to better serve the regulatory goals of risk management and innovation. Since completing her LL.M., Shaochen has joined UK DLA Piper LLP as a Legal Assistant in her home country of China.

Thesis: Principles-based vs. rules-based regulation of derivatives markets in developing and developed markets: A comparison of the regimes in Thailand and Quebec

Noah Quastel - LL.M.

Noah Quastel obtained an LL.B from the University of British Columbia and his LL.M. from UVic. While at UVic Law he worked with Michael M'Gonigle and James Tully exploring the regulation of global commodities and the implications for legal theories of contract, sales of goods and economic regulation. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of British Columbia in economic geography. A recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Canadian Graduate Scholarship and the University of British Columbia's Four Year Fellowship he works under the supervision of Jamie Peck. His dissertation analyzes discourses of the 'green economy', their effects on state climate action and electric utilities regulation. Following themes of sustainability and economic regulation, he has published in the areas of sustainable consumption, regulation of global commodities, and urban sustainability and real estate markets.

Thesis: Contract, sustainability, and the ecology of exchange

Crystal Reeves - LL.M.

Thesis: The woven object of law and the weaving process of law: An interdisciplinary conception of legal pluralism in Samoa

Nancy Sandy - LL.M.

Nancy’s thesis identifies and records Secwepemc laws, customs and traditions in the area of child safety in the community of the Williams Lake Indian Band. Nancy is a member of the Williams Lake Indian Band of the Secwepemc Nation. She is a law graduate of the University of British Columbia (1987) and was called to the Bar in 1989. She practiced law as in house legal counsel for both the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, and the Nenqay Deni Yajelhtig Law Centre (which provided legal services for the Carrier and Tsilhqot’in Nations). She also represented the NDYLC during the Cariboo Chilcotin Justice Inquiry (the “Sarich Inquiry”) which delved into the treatment of the aboriginal people of the Carrier, T’silhqot’in and Secwpemc Nations by the RCMP and other justice service providers. Nancy was elected as the Chief of the Williams Lake Indian Band for three terms from 1996 to 2002. As a political leader Nancy was a strong advocate for aboriginal rights and title issues, the Chief Negotiator in treaty negotiations, legal counsel on the Paul Alphonse Inquiry, and as a child welfare and health advocate for members of her community. Nancy has also been a part time instructor in First Nation Studies at the University of Northern BC and for the Thompson Rivers University (formerly known as the University College of the Cariboo). She has been very active in the area of child welfare as a former program director of child and family services at Carrier Sekani Family Services, a member of committees of the Directors Forum, and as a current board member for the Caring for First Nations Children Society. Nancy currently operates her own consulting business in the area of First Nations Research and Policy Development. Nancy was raised in a strong matriarchal home and lives and acts on her Secwepemc customs and values as a mother and grandmother, and in all facets of her career.
Thesis: Reviving Secwepemc child welfare jurisdiction

Jennifer Sankey - LL.M.
Thesis: Globalization, law and indigenous transnational activism: The possibilities and limitations of indigenous advocacy at the WTO

Atulya Sharman - LL.M.

Atulya Sharman received B.A./LL.B with honors from India. He worked with Senior lawyers at the High Court of Judicature at New Delhi, India before coming to the University of Victoria to pursue his LL.M. His research focused on Environmental Law and Policy with specific focus on intersection of International Trade and Environmental law in the backdrop of industrial disasters such as Bhopal. He is the recipient of Law Foundation of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship (2004) and POLIS Project on Ecological Governance scholarship (2005). He currently works at the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO), a speciality legal clinic that serves low-income South Asians in the Greater Toronto Area. Before joining SALCO he worked on a Sustainable Transportation Project for a trade and investment law firm in association with the Clinton Global Initiative to rank US and Canadian cities on the basis of their sustainable transportation habits.

Major Paper: The Cartagena Biosafety Protocol: Mutation of international trade in genetically modified organisms

Perry Shawana - LL.M.

Thesis: Carrier medicine knowledge, ethics and legal processes

Zara Suleman- LL.M.

Thesis: Race(ing) family law: A feminist critical race analysis of the "Best Interest of the Child" test and the impact for racialized women in custody and access cases

M. Gwendolynne Taylor - LL.M.

Gwen graduated from the University of Victoria LL.B. program and began law practice in 1987 in general practice, with a primary focus on administrative law and conflict resolution. She is a mediator, facilitator, Chartered Arbitrator, and adjudicator. She began mediating in 1990, was qualified as a Family Law Mediator in 1992, and conducted numerous personal injury and family law mediations. She has continued to focus on dispute resolution practice. Gwen is a member of the Mediation Roster Society on both the Civil and Child Protection Rosters and provides adjudication services for the Indian Residential School Adjudication Secretariat. Between 1993 and 1998, she was the Chair and CEO of the Property Assessment Appeal Board. Subsequently, she chaired the Medical and Health Care Services Appeal Board. In both boards, she initiated and implemented dispute resolution processes. Gwen has served on various boards and agencies including the Expropriation Compensation Board, the Liquor Control & Licensing Branch, the Residential Tenancy Branch, Employment Standards Tribunal, and Public Service Appeal Board. She assisted in developing dispute resolution processes in many of those agencies. Gwen joined the Masters of Law program at UVic in 2006 and graduated in May 2010.

Major Paper: The prostitution debates in Canada: Competing perspectives presented to the Subcommittee on Solicitation Laws

Doug Thompson - LL.M.

Thesis: A merry chase around the gift/bribe boundary

Lizhao Zheng - LL.M.

Thesis: Pension reform in China: Under the shadow of the World Bank

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