Speaker Biography
Joyce Johner – Joyce is General Counsel and Deputy Registrar at the BC College of Oral Health Professionals (BCCOHP). Born the 10th of 12 children on a family wheat farm in Saskatchewan, becoming a lawyer was not a predictable path but having a passion for education and being community-minded, paved a way for her career in law. Primarily focused on litigation, Joyce practised both criminal and civil law, first at Singleton Urquhart and then at Blakes before going in-house at the BC Securities Commission.
Joyce later joined the College of Dental Surgeons of BC as General Counsel, a role she held from 2018 until CDSBC amalgamated with three other regulators to become the BCCOHP. Joyce brings extensive governance experience working as corporate secretary to the BCCOHP Board, as well as overseeing regulatory functions.
She has also been on boards for not-for-profits and coached a variety of sports and organized charitable events. While on the board of Touchstone Theatre, she founded the annual Lawyers Show and organized ‘Hockey Helps the Homeless’ raising money for street level organizations. Joyce has a law degree from the University of British Columbia, and undergraduate degrees in Economics/Environmental and Psychology.
Sonali Sharma – Originally from a rural town in the East Kootenays, Sonali is not your typical lawyer. Passionate about social justice issues but pragmatic in nature, she completed her articles in Northern B.C., with a full-service firm and the Ministry of Justice. She has a unique mix of professional work experience ranging from positions at RBC Global Asset Management, Vancouver Coastal Health’s EFAP (Employee and Family Assistance Program) to working as a Family Lawyer with a mid-sized firm in Richmond, B.C.
She started Athena Law because she saw a need for affordable “unbundled” legal services, particularly for “Every Day Legal Problems” in the areas of Family and Wills and Estates. Since 2017, she has been promoting and advocating for unbundled legal services through various platforms such as Legal Aid BC, CLEBC, the CBABC, and by acting as a supervising lawyer for Access Pro Bono's Everyone Legal Clinic, in the area of Wills and Estates.
Outside of her practice, Sonali is the co-chair of the Collaborative Divorce Vancouver Society promoting the spread of collaborative family law and she sits on the board of Seniors First BC, a non- profit that focuses on ensuring that older adults in BC have the right to live with dignity and free from abuse of any kind.
Erica Toews – Erica created Erica Toews Legal Research in 2013 to provide freelance legal research and writing services to sole practitioners, small firms, and in-house legal departments. Together with her growing team of freelance lawyers, she researches legal issues, drafts court documents, and generally supports her lawyer-clients to help keep their practices running smoothly. She also enjoys writing her blog (https://www.toewslegal.com/blog), which explores various research and writing issues. Before starting her firm, she practised litigation for seven years, first in Toronto and then in Vancouver. She holds a JD from the University of Toronto and a BA from Queen’s University.
Moderator Biography
Laésha Smith - Laésha maintains a dispute resolution practice with a focus on securities, administrative law and complex commercial litigation at her firm, Poulus Ensom Smith LLP. Her career path has involved private practice at large, international full-service law firms in New York and London as well as a litigation boutique in Vancouver. She also worked in-house at the British Columbia Securities Commission first as a Senior Compliance Officer in its Corporate Finance division and then as Litigation Counsel in the Enforcement division. Laésha is on the Education Committee of the Women Lawyers Forum CBA BC Branch.
