Shows
A Shot of Life CanadaDeborah Wolfe. NCA Series Episode 39Deborah Wolfe, is the Executive Director, National Committee on Accreditation and Law Schools Programs with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The NCA assesses the qualifications of individuals with legal education and professional experience obtained outside of Canada, or in a Canadian civil law program, who wish to be admitted to a common law bar in Canada. Ms. Wolfe also leads the process to approve Canadian common law, law school programs.
2022-02-2053 minA Shot of Life CanadaHarry Brar. NCA Series Episode 38Harry Brar is the founder lawyer at Harry Brar Law. Immigration, Real Estate and Family Law are his areas of specializationHarry was called to the bar in November 2020.He feels happy helping people who reach out to him for guidance regarding the NCA, lawyer licensing and moving to Canada. He always tells people that in the beginning everything might seem overwhelming, but the end is worth it.Harry’s advice for everyone is: Getting licensed in Canada is a long and expensive process so it is important to save and spend money wi...
2022-02-1738 minA Shot of Life CanadaDeborah Wolfe. NCA Series Episode 37Deborah Wolfe, is the Executive Director, National Committee on Accreditation and Law Schools Programs with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The NCA assesses the qualifications of individuals with legal education and professional experience obtained outside of Canada, or in a Canadian civil law program, who wish to be admitted to a common law bar in Canada. Ms. Wolfe also leads the process to approve Canadian common law, law school programs.
2021-08-3056 minA Shot of Life CanadaAlicia Windsor. NCA Series Episode 36Alicia is an Associate Lawyer with Hummingbird Lawyers Civil Litigation practice.A native of Ocala, Florida, known as the Horse Capital of the World, Alicia has been an avid equestrian since the age of 8. She has owned, ridden and shown hunter/jumper horses for much of her life. Currently, she rides hunters in the Milton area and has a soft spot for off the track Thoroughbreds.After completing her Juris Doctorate in California, Alicia was called to the bar in Florida in 2007. Shortly thereafter, Alicia enrolled in St. Thomas University School of Law to obtain...
2021-08-241h 05A Shot of Life CanadaJuda Strawczynski. NCA Series Episode 35Juda manages and promotes practicePRO, LAWPRO’s innovative claims and risk management initiative, including identifying emerging claims and risk, resource creation, and outreach to the profession.Prior to joining LAWPRO, he served as a Policy Counsel at the Law Society of Ontario, where he provided strategic counsel with respect to key issues facing the legal profession, including access to justice, professional regulation, governance and legislative issues. Prior to that, Juda practised litigation, and served as a Fellow at Physicians for Human Rights in Cambridge, MA, as President of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) from 2013 to 2018, an...
2021-08-2246 minA Shot of Life CanadaVictoria Crewe-Nelson. NCA Series Episode 34Victoria Crewe-Nelson was appointed Vice President, Underwriting & Customer Service and Secretary for the board in 2018. She is responsible for the preparation, placement, and maintenance of reinsurance and corporate insurance. She provides leadership in the analysis of program changes and improvements and ensures adherence to regulatory, program and underwriting requirements.Victoria was called to the Ontario bar in 2003 after completing a B.A. and LL.B. at the universities of Toronto, Ottawa and Edinburgh.
2021-07-1130 minA Shot of Life CanadaAfsana Gibson Chowdhury. NCA Series Episode 33Afsana is a designated Qualified Mediator (Q.Med) and founder of Gibson Chowdhury. Originally from Britain, Afsana was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2007 and entered the Roll of Solicitors in 2010. She worked predominantly in the personal injury, medical malpractice and insurance defense sector. Following her move to Canada in 2012, Afsana established her mediation practice in 2019 and now mediates in Canada and Britain.Afsana’s approach to a successful mediation is to ensure that the needs and interests of each party is adequately met. She is methodical during her mediations, which helps her to un...
2021-06-2158 minA Shot of Life CanadaFunke Fasunon. NCA Series Episode 32Funke is a lawyer, mom and wife. She is a Nigerian-Canadian writer. She writes to entertain, inform and inspire.Funke was born to Yoruba parents in Nigeria. She lived in different cities in Nigeria but later immigrated to Canada. Her writing reflects her interpretation of her experiences from infancy up to date. She ghostwrites for people too. She feels the younger generation need to hear real stories that are not covered up in bling. She encourages people to write their memoirs in relatable ways. With easy language and style. When she is not writing, she serves as...
2021-06-1057 minA Shot of Life CanadaAndrew Mattu. NCA Series Episode 31Andrew Mattu holds a Bachelor of Law Degree B.A. LLB. (Hons.) from the University Institute of Legal Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. He successfully completed his equivalency exams (NCA exams) conducted by the Federation of Law Society of Canada and was called to the bar of the Law Society of Ontario in January 2018. Andrew Mattu started working as a Student at Law with one of the best immigration lawyers in the Greater Toronto Area. He received excellent practical and theoretical training where he honed his skills to better serve clients from all over the world...
2021-05-2039 minA Shot of Life CanadaJennifer Mohomed. NCA Series Episode 30.Jennifer is a practicing Attorney at Law, with licenses to practice in the jurisdictions of Ontario, Canada (2019) and Trinidad and Tobago (2007). Along with an L.L.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law from the University of the West Indies, Jennifer has more than twelve (12) years of experience as both in-house Legal Counsel within a State Integrated Oil and Gas Company and within the field of Corporate/Commercial Litigation/Dispute Resolution at Trinidadian law firms. In conjunction with her practice, Jennifer is also currently serving as a Volunteer Legal Consultant with the National Canadian Lawyers' Initiative...
2021-04-171h 01A Shot of Life CanadaJohn Richardson. NCA Series Episode 29.John Richardson is a pioneer in the exam prep industry. He founded one of the first NCA communities on Facebook and is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.John joins us to discuss NCA exam prep tutoring.
2021-03-0449 minA Shot of Life CanadaKim Gale. NCA Series Episode 28Kim has honed her advocacy skills in a variety of settings and is a fierce advocate for her clients.Kim is a pioneer in the legal community and is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in the field of law. She had envisioned becoming a barrister from a young age as she enjoys solving problems and negotiating. In 2007, she attended Western University and graduated in 2011 from the media program. After working in shipping and logistics and marketing, she worked as an assistant to an estate litigator in 2013. Kim enjoyed working in this area of law and pursued...
2021-03-0354 minA Shot of Life CanadaDeborah Wolfe. NCA Series Episode 27Deborah Wolfe, P.Eng., is the Executive Director, National Committee on Accreditation and Law Schools Programs with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The NCA assesses the qualifications of individuals with legal education and professional experience obtained outside of Canada, or in a Canadian civil law program, who wish to be admitted to a common law bar in Canada. Ms. Wolfe also leads the process to approve Canadian common law, law school programs. Ms. Wolfe is the Past Chair of the Association of Accrediting Agencies of Canada, a former President of the Canadian Engineering...
2021-02-261h 05A Shot of Life CanadaLeanne Goldstein. NCA Series Episode 26Leanne Goldstein is a Partner at MK Disability Lawyers. She has been a practicing lawyer for 20 years. For 16 years she has been tirelessly advocating for individuals whose short term and long term disability benefits have been wrongfully denied by insurance companies.Leanne Goldstein was admitted to the Law Society of Ontario in 2002. Prior to that, Leanne practiced as an Attorney in a different jurisdiction with a large international law firm. In Ontario, Leanne initially practiced personal injury litigation with one of the top ten personal injury law firms. She then devoted the next 16 years to representing individuals...
2021-02-1945 minA Shot of Life CanadaLenie Ibanez. NCA Series Episode 26Lenie Ibanez is of Filipina descent and has spent the majority of her childhood and most of her adulthood in Canada until her recent move to London, UK for Law school. She completed her undergraduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication studies. Lenie has worked in the finance, banking, real estate industries in marketing and business development roles.She commenced her law conversion course for the GDL at the University of Law. Lenie won the first ever Women’s Empowerment Scholarship from the Miranda Brawn Diversity Foundation, has volunteered as...
2021-02-1751 minA Shot of Life CanadaSamantha Del Frate. NCA Series Episode 25Samantha is a current Articling Student at McCarthy Tétrault with a keen interest in regulatory law and professional regulation. In 2019, she created and organized the inaugural On-Campus Interviews (OCIs) for ITLs and NCA Candidates at the Ontario Bar Association (OBA). She is a Co-founder and Director of ITLNCA Networks and the Chair of ITLNCA OCIs. She is an advocate for equity in the legal profession. After graduating from The University of Glasgow School of Law, Samantha worked full-time at McCarthy Tétrault while completing the self-study NCA exams and bar exams. When she is no...
2021-01-1543 minA Shot of Life CanadaLena Koke. NCA Series Episode 24.Lena Koke is CEO and Co-Founder of Axess Law and over the past six years has been leading the company through significant periods of growth, while overseeing the company being recognized on Canadian Business’ Startup50, Growth500 and the Globe and Mail’s Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies awards lists multiple times. Lena is passionate about expanding the avenues through which Canadians can access legal services. She is heavily focused on the company’s operations and technology areas, believing that streamlined processes coupled with new, forward-thinking technologies, will continue to fuel the growth of the company and lead to much-nee...
2021-01-1343 minA Shot of Life CanadaStephanie Sonawane. NCA Series Episode 23Stephanie is a litigation associate with a broad civil and commercial litigation practice focusing on contractual, shareholder, and real estate disputes, as well as oppression claims.Prior to joining TGF, Stephanie practiced law at the Supreme Court of India and various tribunals. She represented multi-national clients across a variety of industries such as telecommunications, e-commerce, aviation, and energy.She also volunteered at the House of Lords (United Kingdom) and with various charities. Stephanie was called to the Bar of Delhi (India) in 2013 and called to the Bar of Ontario in 2020. She summered and...
2020-12-3036 minA Shot of Life CanadaRebecca Lockwood. NCA Prep mini-series Episode 1. Criminal and Constitutional Law Rebecca Lockwood is a licensed barrister and solicitor with the Law Society of Ontario. She graduated from the prestigious Juris Doctor program at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. After completing her articles under Barbara Jackman in 2014, she opened her own immigration and refugee law practice in association with Barbara and her renowned immigration and refugee litigation boutique, Jackman & Associates. Rebecca is also the Lead Program Designer of the Toronto School of Management’s NCA Exam Prep Program.This mini-series of podcasts will go over the various core module syllabi of the NCA Exams. This episode is al...
2020-12-231h 02A Shot of Life CanadaOnline Learning with Professor Steve Joordens. Episode 21Steve Joordens is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and Director of the Advanced Learning Technologies Lab.Professor Joordens is an educator and an entrepreneur of educational technologies. He also regularly gives keynote presentations and does media interactions as a way of connecting psychology to world events. Steve has an activist streak as well with two primary causes; enhancing public education to focus more on the development of transferable skills, and trying to convince humans to treat animals more respectfully in research and definitely in the food industry. For fun, he...
2020-12-1750 minA Shot of Life CanadaValerie Fernandes. NCA Series Episode 20Valerie Fernandes is the Founder of Ontario Bar Exam Courses (obecourses.com) which helps domestic and international students and licensing candidates effectively prepare for Ontario’s Barrister and Solicitor examinations. Formerly at Shopify, Valerie has been passionately teaching bar strategy for several years and has worked with her team to help many students pass the exam.Through practice and competitive mooting, she has appeared before the Immigration and Refugee Board, the Ontario Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Valerie holds a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School with a specialization in Litigation & Di...
2020-12-1536 minA Shot of Life CanadaDeborah Wolfe. NCA Series Episode 19Deborah Wolfe, P.Eng., is the Executive Director, National Committee on Accreditation and Law Schools Programs with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The NCA assesses the qualifications of individuals with legal education and professional experience obtained outside of Canada, or in a Canadian civil law program, who wish to be admitted to a common law bar in Canada. Ms. Wolfe also leads the process to approve Canadian common law, law school programs. Ms. Wolfe is the Past Chair of the Association of Accrediting Agencies of Canada, a former President of the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation...
2020-12-021h 04A Shot of Life CanadaGina Alexandris. NCA Series Episode 18For over 20 years, Gina Alexandris has been inspiring and supporting individuals and organizations to strategically define their hopes and achieve their goals. As the Senior Program Director of Ryerson’s Law Practice Program (LPP), Gina is responsible for the development, implementation and general management of this innovative transition year training program for lawyer licensing Candidates in Ontario. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring academic excellence and the quality of service and program delivery for participants, and outreach to hundreds of contributing members of the legal profession. Gina has also been actively involved with the development and recent la...
2020-11-181h 08A Shot of Life CanadaDr. Kara Mitchelmore. NCA Series Episode 17Dr. Kara Mitchelmore, holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Athabasca University, is a fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) and the Certified Management Accountants (CMA) and is a Certified Marketing and Research Professional (CMRP). Dr. Mitchelmore is the CEO of CPLED, a non-profit organization that provides the training needed before being called to the Bars of Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan.She spent eight years with Certified Management Accountants (CMA) Alberta, including four years as president and CEO. Most recently, Kara was the CEO of the Marketing Research & Intelligence Association (MRIA). She also has...
2020-11-1141 minA Shot of Life CanadaNoor Akhtar. NCA Series Episode 16Noor's legal journey began with an interest in educating people as to their rights while she was studying English literature in my home country, Pakistan. Being raised in a very lively and densely populated city like Lahore gave her the insight to analyze the societal atrocities and indifferences that she used to study in my literature classes. At this point, she decided to go to law school in hopes to attempt to bridge the gap between societal power imbalance.She went to the University of London (UK) to pursue her passion to help restore social justice in...
2020-11-0934 minA Shot of Life CanadaLitsa Dantzer. NCA Series Episode 15Litsa Dantzer is the founder of Law Job Exchange, Canada’s first and only online legal career community of over 12,000 lawyers, law students and legal professionals across Canada. Through her latest endeavour, legalcareercoach.ca, she coaches lawyers and law students at every stage of their career to connect (or reconnect!) with their passion for the law under their own terms. She has made it her mission to help legal professionals reach their full potential and accompany them on their career journey, every step of the way. Having graduated from the Civil Law Faculty at the University of Ot...
2020-11-0647 minA Shot of Life CanadaCharles Osuji. NCA Series Episode 14Charles is the Managing Partner & CEO at Osuji & Smith Lawyers. He is one of the leading young lawyers in Canada. He has been voted and chosen as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada, the Entrepreneur of the Year by Diversity Magazine, the 2020 Immigrant of Distinction (Achievement Under 35) by Immigration Services Calgary, and repeatedly voted as one of the top 3 Employment and Business lawyers in Calgary by ThreeBestRated, among other awards and recognitions including Canada's Top 40 Under 40 and Canadian Bar Association’s Rising Star Award.
2020-10-3042 minA Shot of Life CanadaAbhay Gautam. NCA Series Episode 13Abhay Gautam is a Biotechnologist, a business graduate and a lawyer. After completing his Masters in Biotechnology in 2007, he proceeded to graduate from Monash University, Australia in 2010 with a Master of International Business and Master of Business (Project Management). In 2017, he earned his LLB degree from Guru Nanak Dev University, India. Abhay then moved to Canada in 2017 to pursue his goal of practicing law in Canada. He has passed the Ontario Bar Examinations (Barrister and Solicitor) and is currently Articling with Khangura & Bajaj LLP in Toronto, ON.
2020-10-2242 minA Shot of Life CanadaAngela Sordi. NCA Series Episode 12Angela Sordi the Director of Professional Recruiting at Borden Ladner Gervais in Toronto. She is also a Certified Executive Coach, a Member of the International Coaching Federation and a Member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. In her current role, she is responsible for all aspects of the summer student and articling program including student recruitment and student professional development. Angela is also responsible for coaching junior associates at the firm.
2020-10-1641 minA Shot of Life CanadaDeborah Wolfe. NCA Series Episode 11Deborah Wolfe, P.Eng., is the Executive Director, National Committee on Accreditation and Law Schools Programs with the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The NCA assesses the qualifications of individuals with legal education and professional experience obtained outside of Canada, or in a Canadian civil law program, who wish to be admitted to a common law bar in Canada. Ms. Wolfe also leads the process to approve Canadian common law, law school programs. Ms. Wolfe is the Past Chair of the Association of Accrediting Agencies of Canada, a former President of the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation...
2020-10-071h 00A Shot of Life CanadaNassira El Hadri. NCA Series Episode 10Nassira was born in Morocco, but moved to Spain at the age of 6. She went to university without having a clear idea of what she wanted to become. She enrolled in the degree of Labour Relations but then discovered her passion for law and transferred to law school after completing her second year.While in law school, Nassira was elected as representative of law students in her university and got involved in politics by becoming the president of the youth wing of a political party representing her hometown. She was also a regular speaker in a non-profit...
2020-10-0148 minA Shot of Life CanadaDaniel Lo. NCA Series Episode 9Daniel is a private equity lawyer and is triple-qualified in Canada (Alberta and Ontario), England & Wales, and the British Virgin Islands. He was born in Hong Kong, raised in Mississauga ON, and proudly calls Canada his home. He is currently working as a legal counsel at UBS in Singapore and is focusing on investment funds and asset management. He was previously an associate at an international offshore law firm in Singapore, legal counsel at a private equity firm in Hong Kong, and an associate in an international law firm in Canada. Outside of his day...
2020-09-2445 minA Shot of Life CanadaSyed Jawad Quader. NCA Series Episode 8Jawad is an internationally trained lawyer with 12+ years of experience as a multi-jurisdictional litigator, transactional lawyer, and law firm manager. He has litigated in over 1000 cases and has a reported judgment from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh under his belt. He also represented clients in multi-million dollar structured finance deals, investments, and transactions. He is a non-practicing Barrister in the UK and has represented clients in many cross-border and multi-jurisdictional matters spreading over diverse jurisdictions such as the UK, Singapore, India, Switzerland, and has worked with lawyers from around the world.He is presently pursuing requalification and...
2020-09-1839 minA Shot of Life CanadaOlufikemi Aideloje. NCA Series Episode 7Olufikemi is a Lawyer licensed to practice in Nigeria and recently called to the Ontario Bar. She has the NCA Certificate of Qualification and is in search of the right opportunity to commence acquiring the requisite hands-on experience that will facilitate building a successful legal career. She is passionate about inclusion & Diversity matters and human rights, hence why she bagged a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law. She hopes to someday work with Internationally renowned organizations in order to contribute to the development of equality and social justice all around the world.She is a so...
2020-09-1436 minA Shot of Life CanadaMark Kallini. NCA Series Episode 6.Mark completed his undergraduate degree in psychology at Western University in London, Ontario. In his final semester of undergrad, Mark decided to pursue a 2 year accelerated law degree in the UK.Mark took a gap year between his first and second year of law school and worked for a law firm specializing in corporate law, namely M&A. Through that experience and conversations with other Canadian and UK corporate lawyers, He was given the idea to undertake an MBA subsequent to completing his law degree. Mark completed his law degree in July of 2020 and is currently studying...
2020-09-1232 minA Shot of Life CanadaBhavna Fatnani. NCA Series Episode 5Being a curious rebel since early childhood, Bhavna decided it was best to study law in order to bring big changes in the society having seen disparity very closely.Professionally qualified as a lawyer and company secretary, the corporate rat-race didn't diffuse the fire for bringing change. She gained her expertise with big brands like Morgan Stanley, Unilever, and Thomson Reuters among others. She realized that to bring a change, she had to start at the grassroots level. Hence, she has also consulted the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India for corporate litigation matters before relocating...
2020-09-0928 minA Shot of Life CanadaStuart Floyd. NCA Series Episode 4Stuart Floyd is the International Regional Manager for Bond University. He is Australian, having grown up in Adelaide, South Australia, and attended Bond University in the early and mid-2000s to complete a double undergraduate degree in International Relations and Law. Even though Stuart completed his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree he has never practiced as a lawyer, choosing instead to follow his passion for education. For the past 16 years Stuart has worked for Bond University in their admissions department, the first 6 in domestic Australian admissions, and the last 10 years here in Canada managing admissions, marketing, and recruitment for...
2020-09-0741 minA Shot of Life CanadaA Shot of Life Canada. NCA Series Episode 3. Siobhan LennoxWith a strong commitment to community, story telling and mentorship, Siobhan is the President of Global Lawyers of Canada BC Chapter promoting a diverse and inclusive legal profession that reflects the clients we serve, through advocacy, community engagement, professional development, mentorship and networking opportunities. Siobhan hosts a weekly Virtual Mentor Office Hours series for lawyers and law students with mentors and mentees from across Canada and around the world. This platform provides a space for legal professionals to come together, share their stories and support each other through their shared and learned experiences.
2020-09-041h 15A Shot of Life CanadaA Shot of Life: NCA Series Episode 2- Vanessa SantaguidaIn Episode 2 of the NCA sub-series, Anton interviews Vanessa Santaguida. Vanessa completed her first undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto- a bachelor of business administration. She then went on to complete her bachelor of education at OISE at UofT. She became a teacher thereafter and has been teaching in the formal System for almost a decade. Vanessa continued in her education journey to complete her Mba at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. She completed her MBA with honours and went on to start a PhD at Sir Wilfred Laurier University. She left the program early...
2020-08-2927 minA Shot of Life CanadaA Shot of Life: NCA Series Episode 1- Rabeea KhaledOur first guest is Rabeea Khaled, a technology enthusiast who loves to improve the way legal services and legal education is delivered to the most vulnerable in our society. She was called to the Ontario bar in 2020 and has been actively involved in mentoring those wishing to embark on the lawyer licensing process in Ontario.
2020-08-2936 min