Lee Nevens (they/them) is president of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch for the 2024-25 term. They are the first transgender lawyer elected as CBABC President and first non-binary Branch President in all of the Canadian Bar Association. In their day job, Lee is senior counsel in civil litigation for the Department of Justice Canada in Vancouver.

Prior to becoming president, Lee served on the majority of CBABC’s committees, six years on Provincial Council, and four years on the Board of Directors. A long-time advocate for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Lee’s engagement with the CBA started in 2008 with the Sexual and Gender Diversity Alliance, including co-chairing the section for five years. Lee’s work to promote equality in the legal profession and justice system for trans, non-binary and gender diverse people was recognized in 2022 when they received both the CBA Touchstone Award and the Public Service Agent of Change Award.

Prior to being called to the bar, they were a clerk for the Nunavut Court of Justice, intern at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and policy analyst for Legal Services Society BC. However, they count some of their many varied pre-law jobs among their most formative, including midnight shifts at Dunkin Donuts, farm labourer, and receptionist at the worst hostel in all of London.

Raised by an artist, a career in law wasn’t top of Lee’s aspirations growing up. First, they wanted to be an astronaut, then a doctor, and then a writer, before eventually landing on law and completing their JD at Peter A. Allard School of Law following their BA from McGill University.