WHITE RAVEN LAW CORPORATION
As a firm that brings a unique Indigenous perspective to the practice of law, we fully understand the challenges that Indigenous communities face. We see ourselves as a partner and collaborator in finding solutions that are not only sustainable, but also reflect the customs and traditions of Indigenous communities.
Lawyers
The lawyers of White Raven Law offer a unique combination of legal and Indigenous knowledge that sets us apart. The breadth and depth of our lawyers' skills and experience in Indigenous' affairs enable White Raven Law to fulfill our mission of providing Indigenous communities an innovative approach to handling legal challenges with integrity and compassion.
PRINCIPAL AND SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL
Gid7ahl Gudsllaay, K.C.
A citizen of, and General Counsel, to the Haida Nation, Terri-Lynn has practised in Indigenous-environmental law since 1995 when she began representing the Haida Nation at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She was lead counsel in litigation to protect the old growth forests of Haida Gwaii in the Haida case, the leading case on consultation and accommodation of Indigenous rights. She is counsel for the Haida Nation’s aboriginal title case and related reconciliation negotiations—which have resulted in innovative agreements with British Columbia and Canada—as well as other litigation including successfully challenging the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, and injunctive relief for herring.
Terri-Lynn serves on the Law Society of British Columbia Truth and Reconciliation Advisory Committee, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s Indigenous Advisory Council, the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the Centre for Business Law at Allard School of Law, and she is Co-Chair of the Indigenous Engagement in Regulatory Matters Task Force. She is a co-principal investigator with the Canada Climate Law Initiative. Terri-Lynn has been honoured with the Peoples’ Choice Andrew Thompson Award for lifetime contributions to environmental protection and sustainability (2014); the Courage in Law Award from the Indigenous Law Students Association at Allard Law School (2018); Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in the category of “Changemakers” (2020); Maclean’s “Power List”, ranking 21 of 50 Canadians who are breaking ground in their field (2021); and recognized as one of 500 most influential business leaders in BC in the General Counsel category (2022). In 2021 she was appointed as King’s Counsel, and in 2023 she received the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award.
Terri-Lynn is also a multi-award-winning performer, an artist, dancer, and author, and is currently a PhD student at Allard School of Law, UBC.
To find out more: www.ravencallingproductions.ca
MANAGING LAWYER
Elizabeth Bulbrook, B.A., M.A., J.D.
Elizabeth is a Managing Lawyer at White Raven Law with an interest in Aboriginal, Indigenous, environmental, constitutional law and eDiscovery. Elizabeth brings extensive professional experience working with Indigenous Nations to her position. Prior to studying law, Elizabeth acted as a Reconciliation Coordinator for the Council of the Haida Nation and was an archaeologist for the Haida Heritage and Forest Guardians. She has also instructed and developed a wide variety of university level courses, which centered on Archaeology and Indigenous issues.
Elizabeth acts for the Haida through litigation and other legal strategies to advance their title, rights and interests and advises on governance and land and resource issues. Elizabeth has had the opportunity to work on high-profile litigation for the Haida Nation directed at environmental protection at the BC Supreme Court, BC Court of Appeal, Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Elizabeth practices law because of her dedication to using all available tools to improve Indigenous social justice and to protect the environment from unsustainable practices.
Download full bio here.
Download bio photo here.
ASSOCIATE
Nigel Baker-Grenier, B.A., J.D.
Nigel is an Associate at White Raven Law. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in the History Honours program at the University of British Columbia and a Juris Doctor from the Peter A. Allard School of Law. He was called to the BC Bar in 2020. In 2021, the Western Journal of Legal Studies published Nigel’s article “Kitimahkinawow ekwa Kitimahkisin: Pity and Compassion in Cree Law.” He was awarded the the Beverly McLachlin Legal Access Award in 2019 and the Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Indigenous Entrance Scholarship in 2016. In 2018, Nigel published an article in the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review titled, “Esdii Wal: Gitxsan Law Grounded in Epistemology.” Nigel worked as a temporary articled student for the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic, which provides legal advice in the areas of criminal law, family law, and civil law, to marginalized people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Nigel is a recipient of the 2022 Courage in Law from Indigenous Law Students Association, and teaches as an Adjunct professor at the Indigenous Legal Clinic.
Nigel belongs to the Gisgahaast clan from the Gitxsan Nation. He is also Mushkegowuck (swampy Cree) from Churchill, Manitoba. During his upbringing, he was immersed in song, dance, oral history and law from his communities. Nigel chose to study law to revitalize Indigenous laws which are grounded in oral histories and traditions. Indigenous laws contain rich normative resources that are relevant today and robustly inform the rights and obligations of the contemporary world.
Nigel is a lead dancer for Dancers of Damelahamid, an Indigenous dance company based in Vancouver. He has developed and performed numerous works including; Spirit Transforming 2012, Flicker 2016, Talking Past Each Other 2018, and Mînowin 2019. Nigel has toured nationally and internationally as an artist. He has also assisted in organizing the annual Coastal First Nations Dance Festival.
Download bio here.
Download bio photo here.
ASSOCIATE
Cheyenne Neszo, B.A., J.D.
Cheyenne is an Associate at White Raven Law. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University, and a Juris Doctor from Thompson Rivers University, Faculty of Law. Cheyenne clerked with the Honourable Justice Robert L. Barnes at the Federal Court of Canada from 2019-2020. She articled at the Department of Justice in 2020 and was counsel in the Tax Law Services department after being called to the BC Bar in 2021. She subsequently worked as counsel on class actions involving Indigenous Peoples before joining White Raven Law. She is currently pursuing a Master of Laws degree at McGill University, with her research focused on Indigenous and Aboriginal taxation authority derived from modern treaties.
Cheyenne published a paper in the Lakehead Law Journal in 2020 entitled “The Section 87 Tax Exemption as a Tax Expenditure.” She has been a guest lecturer in Tax Law and Tax Policy courses at Thompson Rivers University, McGill University, and the University of Ottawa, presenting in both French and English. She received the Dean’s Course Prize in Public Lands and Natural Resources at TRU. She participated as a negotiator at the Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Negotiation Moot in 2018 and was an editor of the Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law at TRU. She received the Graduate Student Excellence Award, the Indigenous Graduate Student Excellence Recruitment Award, and the Rathlyn Fellowship from McGill University.
Cheyenne belongs to the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation. She is of mixed Dakelh, Kānaka Maoli and European heritage. She pursued law in large part to work on revitalizing Dakelh and other Indigenous Nations’ laws. She envisions a pluri-national legal system which positions Indigenous laws on equal or greater footing relative to Canadian colonial laws. With this objective in mind, Cheyenne has dedicated her career to advocating for Indigenous Nations and Peoples in a way that amplifies their legal and governance systems.
Advisors
White Raven Law clients benefit significantly from our ability to draw on the wise counsel of senior advisors. Our advisors are acknowledged leaders in their areas of expertise and highly respected by their peers. The exceptional breadth and depth of their knowledge provides insights and solutions that enhance the services we provide. They are a vital resource that rounds out the White Raven Law team.
SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL
Louise Mandell, K.C.
In 1983, Louise was one of the founding partners of Mandell Pinder, a law firm specializing in Aboriginal and treaty rights law. In 2011, she moved out of the day-to-day practice of law but remains connected in the esteemed capacity "of counsel" to the firm.
On behalf of her many First Nations clients, Louise has devoted her professional life to the advancement of their Aboriginal Title and Rights and Treaty Rights. She was brought into the area of aboriginal law when it was in its infancy, working under the direction of the late Grand Chief George Manuel, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs ("UBCIC") and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. Acting for UBCIC, Louise was legal counsel in their fight against the patriation of the Constitution. Since then, she has devoted her efforts to implementing constitutional change, including through advancing alongside one or more of her Mandell Pinder colleagues many of the leading cases, such as: Guerin(1), Sparrow(2), Van der Peet(3), Delgamuukw(4), Haida(5), Bartleman(6), Saanichton Marina(7), Morris and Olsen(8), Osoyoos(9) and the historic costs order decision in Jules and Wilson(10).
Louise was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1997 and, in 2001, was awarded the Georges Goyer Q.C. Memorial Award for exceptional contribution to the development of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights jurisprudence across the country.
(1) Guerin v. The Queen, [1984] 2 S.C.R. 335; (2) Regina v. Sparrow, [1990] 1 S.C.R. 1075; (3) Regina v. Van der Peet, [1996] 2 S.C.R. 507; (4) Delgamuukw v. The Queen, [1997] 3 S.C.R. 1010; (5) Haida Nation v. B.C. (Minister of Forests), [2004] 3 S.C.R. 511; (6) R. v. Bartleman, [1984] 55 B.C.L.R. 78 (B.C.C.A.); (7) Saanichton Marina Ltd. v. Claxton, (1988) 1 W.W.R. 540 (B.C.S.C.); affirmed 36 B.C.L.R. (2d) 79 (C.A.); (8) R. v. Morris, [2006] 2 S.C.R. 915; (9) Osoyoos Indian Band v. Oliver (Town), [2001] 3 S.C.R. 746; (10) British Columbia (Minister of Forests) v. Okanagan Indian Band, [2003] 3 S.C.R. 371.
SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL / PROFESSOR
Michael Jackson, L.L.B., L.L.M., K.C.
Professor Jackson has specialized and published widely in the areas of Correctional Law and Penal Policy and Aboriginal and Treaty Rights. He has been involved as a researcher or counsel in many of the Aboriginal rights cases that have come before the Supreme Court of Canada over the past 25 years. He is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature (UK), a Member of the Bar of British Columbia, and a Professor of Law at the University of British Columbia. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1999.
Professor Jackson was co-counsel in the Haida Nation litigation in which the Supreme Court affirmed a Crown duty to consult and accommodate First Nations in relation to resource development decisions affecting lands to which they have asserted Aboriginal rights and title. He was also co-counsel in the Gitksan Wet'suwet'en land claims case, Delgamuukw v. The Attorney-General of British Columbia.
Professor Jackson also served in as a consultant to the Law Reform Commission of Canada and authored In Search of the Pathways to Justice: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Aboriginal Communities. He has also authored two major reports, Justice Behind the Walls and Locking Up Natives in Canada. Professor Jackson also published Prisoners of Isolation: Solitary Confinement in Canada, as well as Sentences That Never End.
Professor Jackson received a Bachelor of Laws from Kings College, London and a Master of Laws from Yale Law School.
He can be contacted through the Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC
David Paterson
David’s career has focussed on the representation of Indigenous peoples and First Nations since 1985 when he became involved with the Haida Nation’s defence of Athlii Gwaii (Lyell Island). He has argued cases across Canada and at all levels of Courts. He was co-counsel in the landmark Delgamuukw case.
David was also involved in the fight over Indian Residential Schools, appearing before both a Parliamentary Committee and the Supreme Court of Canada. He was co-counsel in the Baxter national class action and took part in settlement negotiations including helping to draft the injury compensation process (the IAP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) mandates. Following the settlement, he was (and remains) a member of the Oversight Committee supervising the IAP, and the Parties’ Advisory Committee to the TRC, as well as representing many individual claimants.
David has lectured widely and served, from 2000 to 2006, as Vice Chair and Chair of the Indigenous Peoples and the Law Committee of the International Bar Association. He is a former Chair of the South Fraser Regional Health Board and the Health Association of BC and presently serves as Board Secretary for Reconciliation Canada.
He is a graduate of McGill Law School, a former law clerk to the BC Court of Appeal, and was called to the Bar in 1984.
