Vancouver, BC (August 16, 2015) – Jennifer Chow of Vancouver becomes the first visible minority branch President of the Canadian Bar Association BC Branch ("CBABC") today as Alex Shorten of Vancouver becomes Past President at the close of the annual Canadian Legal Conference held this year in Calgary.
As Senior Counsel at the Department of Justice in Vancouver, Jennifer Chow brings almost two decades of experience at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She is a civil litigator who practices in the areas of Crown law, constitutional and administrative law, commercial law and aboriginal law.
A graduate of UBC Law School, Chow has been actively involved with the CBABC since becoming a member more than 25 years ago. Membership remains a key focus as she now leads the Branch as president, stating, “the CBA represents lawyers, judges and law students in so many different roles; sole practitioners, large firms, appellate and government lawyers, in-house counsel, retirees and those in part-time, non-practicing or pro bono roles. Our members live in both rural and urban settings. The range of age and experience is as vast as our province.” Adding, “We are an organization dedicated to the advocacy of our legal profession. I am proud to serve and support our members and lead meaningful change for access to justice in BC.”
Raised in Metro Vancouver, Jennifer is an avid kite-boarder and regularly pursues adventurous sports and travel. A regular panelist at various continuing legal education speaking events, President Chow looks forward to continuing her participation as mentor, instructor, author and liaison.
In service to the profession, Jennifer Chow has served as Treasurer of the Women Lawyers Forum, Chair of the CBABC Equality and Diversity Committee and Executive Liaison to the organizing committee for CBABC’s Annual Conference and was recognized in 2010 with the CBABC Community Service Award. She was Secretary on the Board of Dress for Success; a non-profit agency that assists socially and economically disadvantaged women enter the workforce. She contributes regularly to continuing legal education and is a law student mentor.
The Canadian Bar Association is the professional organization representing more than 37,000 lawyers, judges and law students in Canada, including 6,900 members in British Columbia.
- 30 -
For more information contact::
Maureen Cameron
Director of Membership and Communications
The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch
604.646.7850 | mcameron@cbabc.org | media@cbabc.org