News beyond the office

In September, Barbara Cornish and Jeffrey Hand presented a one-day seminar designed to introduce young litigators to alternate dispute resolution. Over 25 lawyers from across the province attended the session — ‘Negotiation Skills and Mediation Advocacy for Young Lawyers’.

November proved to be a busy month. Veronica Rossos welcomed clients to a seminar on ‘Employee Privacy, Bullying and New Technology — An Employer’s Quagmire’. Given our changing world, the topic was timely and very well received. As well, the seminar was accredited by the Human Resources Management Association.

Veronica and her SU colleagues, Scott Brearley and Kelly Ann Maw, also made a presentation to the B.C. Society of Fellows of the Insurance Institute of Canada on another timely topic — the ‘Attack of the Drones’, namely the emerging insurance and privacy law implications of commercial and recreational drone technology in B.C. and Canada.

Scott along with Steve Vorbrodt also led a discussion for Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia members on claims and coverage issues in commercial general litigation policies and beyond, including wrap-up policies, builder’s risk and professional liability insurance.

Come one, come all!

SU held a vintage, circus-themed event in November honoring our amazing female clients. A major highlight was an exciting karate demo for our guests by Mark Stacey, a 6th degree black belt in karate and an instructor at the Kingsway Odokan karate dojo in Vancouver, and one of his students, Rita Ngo, a 1st degree black belt who has been training at the Odokan dojo for 11 years. At the same time, many toiletries were gathered for The Lipstick Brigade, a local organization co-founded by Melanie Samuels that provides services to women in shelters throughout the Lower Mainland.

Addendum

Last issue of Letter of the Law we neglected to mention that Avon Mersey Q.C. joined Derek Brindle Q.C. at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, California, where they both recently completed advanced mediation training.