workshop

Trauma-Informed Practice in the Legal Profession:

An Intersectional Look at Marginalization and Privilege

(Featuring barbara findlay, K.C.)

We take a decolonial approach to setting the foundation of this work together, engaging our minds, bodies, emotions and relationships. We focus on learning through experience, and will connect with larger socio-political and historical contexts as well as your own inner world. In this interactive workshop, you can expect to:

// Explore how a trauma-informed approach has roots in Indigenous practices of resistance and resilience

// Connect with your own trauma-informed practice, from your own traditions, in order to do trauma-informed work from a centered space

// Learn how trauma impacts the body and bring – greater knowledge of this enables us to ground ourselves and respond constructively to those who’ve been triggered

// Generate your own “map” of embodied practice that help you find an internal place of connection, safety and dignity

// Learn about oppression and trauma through the lens of a survivor

// Explore the intersectionality of oppression, gender, class, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and other dimensions of oppression

// Learn how to be a trauma-informed ally

// Explore questions relevant to your setting and context with your peers and experienced practitioners

meet your teachers

Karen Snowshoe

Karen Snowshoe is a lawyer, mediator, adjudicator and educator. Since 2009, Ms. Snowshoe has provided Adjudication services (claims of first instance and appeals) and Mediation services across Canada. Her clients have included the Indian Residential School Adjudication Secretariat, the Northwest Territories Human Rights Adjudication Panel, the Workers’ Compensation Tribunal, the BC Human Rights Tribunal, Law Society of British Columbia Tribunal, governments (Provincial, Municipal and Indigenous), post secondary institutions, unions, health authorities, social service agencies and non-profit organizations.

Ms. Snowshoe is a leader in providing trauma-informed and culturally sensitive investigations. As senior counsel with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirited People (MMIWG2S). Ms. Snowshoe built, trained and led a national team of statement gatherers who conducted trauma-informed interviews across Canada.

Ms. Snowshoe is a highly sought after educator in trauma-informed practice. Her customized workshops on Indigenous Reconciliation and Trauma Informed Practice have garnered widespread acclaim for inspiring participants to engage in reconciliation in a way that honours the humanity and dignity of all.

In 2018, Ms. Snowshoe was elected as a Bencher (Governor) of the Law Society of British Columbia. Having served two terms, Ms. Snowshoe brought a unique perspective to the governance of the Law Society. Ms. Snowshoe is the first-Indigenous woman to be elected as a Bencher in the Law Society’s history.

Ms. Snowshoe has been a long-time resident on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, today known as Vancouver. She also lived and worked in Canada’s north (the Yukon and the Northwest Territories) for 14 years.

barbara findlay, KC

barbara findlay, KC was called to the BC Bar in 1977. She worked in the Legal Services Society for over a decade and then as an Adjunct Professor and tenure-track faculty member at the Allard School of Law at UBC. Since 1996, barbara has operated a private practice specializing in LGBTQ2SI+ legal work.

barbara founded the CBABC Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Community (SOGIC) Section and co-founded the CBA National SOGIC federation. In BC, SOGIC is now a community of over 215 LGBTQ2SI+ lawyers, law students and judges. Over the years, barbara has continued to support SOGIC through mentorship of junior members, as a leader of the section for many years, and presenter of various topics of interest.

barbara has been involved in world-first litigation that moved the rights of marginalized communities to the centre. By putting pen to paper to ensure that inclusive and progressive concepts of law and legal principles are developed, her advocacy has reached beyond counsel and justices. barbara’s words have become instruction for law students, organization leaders and community members.