South Asian Women in Law

Event Details

SABABC is honoured to announce its inaugural Women's Day Event on March 8, 2022, featuring a panel of incredibly talented South Asian woman in the legal profession. Attendance for this event is limited, so please register early in order to secure your spot for dinner.

The purpose of the event is to:

Highlight the achievements of South Asian females in the legal profession;
Provide a safe space for South Asian female lawyers to gather and discuss the unique challenges they face in the legal profession; and
Provide an opportunity for networking and the development of informal mentorship relationships.

Our panelists include:

The Honourable Valli Chettiar, Provincial Court of British Columbia
Simmi K. Sandhu, Chair, Property Assessment Appeal Board
Vandana Sood, Supervising Lawyer, Rise Women's Legal Centre
Harleen Randhawa, Associate, Blakes
Karen Powar, Partner, Hamilton Duncan
Kamaljit Lehal, Moderator
Special guest, Jeevyn Dhaliwal QC, Second-Vice President, Law Society of British Columbia.

More panelists and speakers will be announced in the coming days. Please join SABABC for the panel and dinner! Tickets are free for members and $50 for non-members. Non-members, please note that SABABC membership is $50/year. For more information, visit sababc.com.

If you have any questions, please contact Anita K. Atwal at anita@anitaatwallaw.com. Due to limited seating, if you are no longer able to attend, please email Sahil Kesar at sahil.kesar@blakes.com to cancel your reservation.

Please be advised that all public health protocols will be observed at this event, and attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination.

Speakers

The Honourable Judge Valli Chettiar

Judge at Provincial Court of British Columbia

Jeevyn Dhaliwal

Associate Counsel at Larlee Rosenberg LLP

Kamaljit Lehal

Lehal Law

Karen Powar

Partner at Hamilton Duncan Armstrong + Stewart Law Corporation

Harleen Randhawa

Associate at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Simmi Sandhu

Chair at Property Assessment Appeal Board

Vandana Sood

Supervising Lawyer at Rise Women's Legal Centre

Judge Chettiar was appointed to the Provincial Court of British Columbia in 2015. She is assigned to Surrey in the Fraser Region. She deals with criminal, family, child protection, youth, and civil cases.

Judge Chettiar is a member of the Judicial Ethics Committee of the Canadian Association of the Provincial Court Judges, and a member of the Civil Law Committee of the Provincial Court of British Columbia. She is the Provincial Court of British Columbia’s appointee on the Board of Mediate BC.

Judge Chettiar graduated with her law degree from The University of British Columbia in 1992 and was called to the bar in 1993. She clerked for the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Her legal practice was diversified, including administrative law; corporate and commercial; securities; taxation; wills, estates and trusts; real property; and corporate governance. She has ractised as a sole practitioner, partner of a national law firm, general counsel, and in-house corporate counsel for public and private corporations.

Judge Chettiar has served on various provincial administrative tribunals. Immediately prior to her appointment to the Provincial Court, she served as Vice-Chair of the Property Assessment Appeal Board, and as Mediator and Arbitrator for the Surface Rights Board. She has also served on various public and private corporate boards.

Judge Chettiar served on several committees of The Law Society of British Columbia, including Practice Standards, Credentials, and Equity and Diversity. She served as an elected council member for both the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) and the BC Branch (CBABC) and worked on a number of committees including Executive and Equality, and task forces and working groups. She contributed to law reform through the BC Law Institute and CBABC. Throughout her legal career, Judge Chettiar led countless initiatives to promote awareness of equity and diversity issues in the legal profession.

In 2008, the CBABC acknowledged Judge Chettiar’s significant contributions by awarding her the Equality and Diversity Award. In 2012, the CBA bestowed upon Judge Chettiar the prestigious
Touchstone Award for her outstanding work in promoting quality in the legal community.

Judge Chettiar was one of the members involved in the formation of the South Asian Bar Association of British Columbia. She served on SABABC’s Board during its first year of operation (2004-2005).

Jeevyn represents public sector and business clients in connection with workplace immigration and related issues. She obtained her LL.B. from the University of British Columbia in 1997, was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 1998 and has completed extensive mediation training that includes the Mediation Practicum (Provincial Court of British Columbia).

The focus of Jeevyn’s practice is to work closely with senior management and human resources professionals to facilitate the engagement of foreign workers in Canada on either a temporary or permanent basis. In that regard, Jeevyn is experienced in developing corporate immigration strategies to assist employers in their engagement of foreign workers, be it by way of international treaty or as part of a more permanent solution through the Express Entry system. Jeevyn has represented clients’ interests in the fields of construction, biotech, high-tech, pharmaceutical, health, education, engineering, manufacturing, investment and mining services. Jeevyn has written and presented seminars on a variety of immigration and employment related topics.

Jeevyn is active in the legal community and serves as an elected Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia, representing Vancouver County. Jeevyn also serves as a Board member of Creative BC and is a current board member and past president of the South Asian Bar Association of British Columbia. As selected by her peers, Jeevyn is included in the Best Lawyers publication and she is a Lexpert Zenith Award winner. Her community involvement extends to singing at charitable and sporting events and she has, over the years, been a frequent guest anthem singer for the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team.

Kamaljit Kaur Lehal received her law degree in 1989 from the University of British Columbia and was called to the bar in 1990. She opened her own law firm in 1992, Lehal Law Corporation,
and since then continues to operate a successful practice with a focus on immigration law.

Ms. Lehal is both a certified civil and family mediator. She is a Qualified Arbitrator.

Ms. Lehal was an appointed member of the Civil Resolution Tribunal in BC from 2015 to March 2019. She was an appointed member of the BC Review Board from 1998 to 2010 serving in the capacity of Alternate Chair.

She is active in the CBA on various committees.

She is the Chair on the board of directors of Options Community Services Society, a non-profit organization.

Karen is the head of the Personal Injury department at HDAS. She has a diverse litigation practice comprising of commercial and civil disputes, employment law, personal injury and insurance defence. Over the last 11 years of her litigation practice, Karen has conducted numerous trials in both Provincial and Supreme Court.

Karen gained valuable experience for the first six years of her legal career while working as in-house counsel with ICBC. During this time she specialized in fraud claims and became comfortable in the courtroom by defending injury, liability and coverage claims. She then moved on to representing those injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident with obtaining access to treatment and achieving the compensation they deserve. Karen empathetically guides her clients through the often intimidating legal process.

Karen also has an interest in general civil and commercial matters ranging from contractual disputes to negligence actions. She has represented employees and employers in wrongful dismissal claims and has handled disputes between landlords and tenants. She has successfully resolved numerous cases through negotiations and mediations. She will also go to trial when necessary to obtain the best results for her clients.

Personable and approachable, Karen is also fluent in Punjabi. She is able to communicate effectively with her clients and ensure they feel comfortable and confident in their representation.

Outside of work, Karen enjoys keeping fit with running and yoga. She enjoys travelling and trying out new restaurants with her husband, while keeping busy with her two young children and their various activities.

Simmi K. Sandhu received her Bachelor of Laws degree from U.B.C. and was called to the B.C. Bar in 1990.

Simmi is Chair & CEO of the Property Assessment Appeal Board (the 2nd level of property assessment appeals throughout the province).

In late 2018, she was appointed by the United Nations General Assembly as Judge on the United Nations Appeal Tribunal (UNAT), the second level of appeal of the United Nations Internal Justice System. She currently serves as Vice President of UNAT.

Simmi is also Chair of the Circle of Chairs, an informal organization of chairs of all administrative tribunals in B.C.

As a lawyer, she worked in house for I.C.B.C., the Public Guardian & Trustee, and in private practice. Her areas of practice included administrative law, civil litigation, corporate/commercial law and real estate transactions, appearing before the Provincial Court of BC, BC Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal, IRB, HRT, and others.

She has training and extensive experience in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, including online dispute resolution, in the administrative tribunal sector. She also teaches and instructs in the field of administrative law.

Simmi is past president, secretary, and director of the B.C. Council of Administrative Tribunals (BCCAT). As an instructor with BCCAT, she has taught many adjudicators on administrative law, hearing skills and decision writing, including Benchers of the Law Societies of B.C. and Alberta, members of the Civil Resolution Tribunal, BC Utilities Commission, Human Rights Tribunal, etc.

Recently, Simmi assisted in developing a workshop for adjudicators on Intercultural Competency and Implicit Bias. She was also a member of the Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch) Equality and Diversity Committee.

In 2014, B.C.C.A.T. awarded Simmi with its Award for Exceptional Service to the Administrative Justice Community.

Agenda

March 8, 2022

Main Schedule

4:00 PM - 4:20 PM

Registration and Networking

4:20 PM - 4:30 PM

Opening Remarks

Remarks by SABABC Director Anita Atwal. This session includes appetizer service.

4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Panel Discussion

The Honourable Judge Valli Chettiar

Jeevyn Dhaliwal

Kamaljit Lehal

Karen Powar

Harleen Randhawa

Simmi Sandhu

Vandana Sood

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Closing Remarks

Remarks by SABABC Director Anita Atwal. This session includes dinner service.

Sponsors and Partners

Connect with 36 people attending this event

Member Ticket

Member PriceComplimentary

Non-Member Ticket

Public PriceCAD $50

South Asian Bar Association of British Columbia

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