Law & justice

The goal of the court is to take a First Nations perspective, being a holistic and restorative approach, to sentencing.

Honourable Marion Buller
Provincial Court judge and first female First Nations member of the B.C. judiciary

What are grads doing?

Honourable Marion Buller - Provincial Court Judge, British Columbia
Degree: Anthropology, B.A. (1975), LLB (1987)

The Honourable Judge Marion Buller was appointed  the first woman First Nations judge in British Columbia in 1994. Prior to being appointed to the Provincial Court bench, Judge Buller worked as a civil and criminal lawyer (1988 – 1994). Judge Buller served as both a director and president of Canada’s Indigenous Bar Association and has been a member of the B.C. Police Commission and the Law Court Education Society. She was the Commission Counsel for the Caribou- Chilcotin Justice Inquiry and published reports and articles dealing with Aboriginal rights.

Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould (Puglaas) - Former BC regional chief on the Assembly of First Nations, former Crown prosecutor, Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Degree: B.A. Political Science and History
Subsequent Education: L.L.B. University of British Columbia

Jody Wilson-Raybould has been an active member of the BC Bar Association since 2000, a Provincial Crown prosecutor in Vancouver’s downtown eastside until 2003, an elected Commissioner to the BC Treaty Commission (2003-2009), an Elected Councillor for the We Wai Kai Nation and has travelled to the Philippines, Taiwan and Israel-Palestine to work on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and leadership.

Karl Pires - Senior Corporate Lawer, White & Case LLP, Tokyo
Degree: Economics and Pacific and Asian Studies, B.A. (1992)
Subsequent Education: LLB; University of Toronto Faculty of Law (1988)

Quote: "I was honestly not quite sure where my BA in Economics and Pacific and Asian Studies would eventually take me. Twenty years later, I now look back and realize that my understanding of the global economy that was cultivated during my Economics major provided me with a strong foundation that was essential to my development into an international business lawyer."

Nawin Chirapant - Diplomatic Officer (Third Secretary) with the Peace, Security, and Disarmament Division, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom Of Thailand
Degree: Economics B.Sc. (Hons.) (2008), M.A. (2012)

I am responsible for policy analysis and implementation of Thailand’s engagements with United Nations disarmament framework of conventional weapons.

Tanner Oscapella - Civil Litigation Associate, McLennan Ross LLP, Calgary
Degree: Political Science B.A. (2011)
Subsequent Education: L.L.B, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law (2015)

As a former Parliamentary Monitor, Tanner was responsible for writing reports on parliamentary committees. As Tanner explains it, “The publicly kept notes of parliamentary committees aren’t released until the day after the committee meeting. There is an industry need for quick reporting on parliamentary business, so I was responsible for attending meetings, taking notes and writing a report within two hours of committee adjournment. Through this work, I got to know how parliament operated and all the insider issues that never seem to make it out to the rest of Canada.” Currently Tanner is living in Calgary and working at McLennan Ross LLP who specialize in insurance defence and risk management, employment law, and Builders' Liens. In his spare time he enjoys hiking and skiing in the Rockies.