Pro Bono Law Alberta recognizes the value of the pro bono legal services Alberta lawyers are delivering to low income Albertans. The Pro Bono Volunteer in Profile (VIP) features the pro bono volunteer service of Alberta lawyers. If you know of a lawyer who should be recognized for their pro bono service to low income Albertans, please contact PBLA.

Howard (Sam) Samoil, Edmonton

Mr. Samoil B.Sc., M.Sc.,LL.B., worked as a wildlife biologist for Parks Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service and Syncrude before attending law school in Calgary. Prior to joining Alberta Justice he worked as corporate counsel for a federal crown corporation (the Northern Canada Power Commission), a public interest environmental law organization (the Environmental Law Centre), the Regulatory Assurance Branch of Alberta Environment. He is currently with the Alberta Justice seconded Environmental Law Section. His practice with ELS focuses on regulatory compliance and enforcement actions, contracts, aboriginal consultation and FOIP for Alberta Environment and Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

Howard and his wife Joanne Archibald (U of C Law, 1985) have volunteered with the Edmonton Community Legal Centre for the last five years. Howard and Joanne also do volunteer work with the Hope Mission

Christopher D. Holmes, Edmonton

Admitted to the Law Society of Alberta, 1979, Mr. Christopher D. Holmes started volunteering in the early 1980's with the Youth Emergency Shelter Society, eventually becoming the President in 1987.

Through the late 1980's and early 1990's Mr. Holmes sat on several City of St. Albert boards, Development Appeal Board, Court of Revision (later called the Assessment Review Board).

In addition to giving courses through the Edmonton Public Schools extension service, and later through the Protestant School Division in St. Albert, Mr. Holmes also provided free legal consultations to clients of the Edmonton Women's Shelter and the SAIF Society in St. Albert and co-ordinated the Jack Rabbit cross country ski program for several years.

He was also actively involved in Edmonton Presbytery of the United Church of Canada.
More recently, Mr. Holmes has been involved for more than 10 years with the St. Albert Breakfast Lions Club, St. Stephens College, the development and construction of senior's housing, a little bit of local politics and importantly, seven years with Edmonton Community Legal Centre as a legal volunteer.

Douglas H. McCallum, Lethbridge

What began as a career in litigation after earning his law degree from the University of Alberta in 1977, stretched into a diverse career of more than 30 years with an emphasis on insurance defence work and marked by a dedication to pro bono legal service. Doug is a founding board member and is currently on the board of directors of Pro Bono Law Alberta. He was involved with the Pro Bono Stakeholder Working Group that led to its creation in 2007.

Since 2005, Doug has been a founding board member and current chair of Lethbridge Legal Guidance and has served as president of the Lethbridge Bar Association. He has also played various roles with the Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society, Defence Research Institute, Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association and is a member of the Canadian Bar Association.

He has practised law in Alberta and British Columbia as a trial lawyer at all levels of court in Alberta, specializing in personal injury insurance defence and general civil litigation. Mr. McCallum has also worked extensively as a sessional lecturer at Lethbridge Community College, the Legal Education Society of Alberta, and worked with intensive trial and appellate advocacy groups. Doug has contributed many hours of pro bono legal service over the years. In recognition for his contributions, The Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association - Alberta presented the Distinguished Service in Pro Bono Legal Service to Doug in January 2009.

Jennifer Lepp, Calgary

Jennifer Lepp is an associate at Borden Ladner Gervais in Calgary, practicing in the areas of Insurance and commercial litigation. Jennifer volunteers her time extensively to a number of legal and non-legal related causes, a dedication that has made her a rising star in the pro bono community.

She is one of the board members of the Children's Legal and Educational Resource Centre (CLERC) and has been actively involved since October 2007. Jennifer was involved in the Child Advocacy Pro Bono Project, which is a PBLA brokered partnership between BLG and CLERC that provides pro bono legal services to at-risk children. Jennifer has been very involved in the project and actually handled the first file under this new program.

However, Jennifer's contributions to the community do not stop there. She is also actively involved with the Volunteer Lawyers Service, an organization that serves to provide non-profit and charitable organizations with legal services and advice.

A former President of the University of Alberta Law Student's Association, Jennifer is a volunteer reader for Calgary Reads and has done legislative review for the CBA's Insurance Law Section. This past winter, Jennifer chaired BLG's 2007 United Way Campaign.

Of her pro bono work, Jennifer has stated that "it is a tremendously rewarding experience. There are so many deserving agencies and people in Calgary who need our help and I feel that as lawyers we have a duty to help the people around us."

Lonny Balbi, QC, Calgary

Lonny Balbi, QC was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1984 and operates Balbi & Company Legal Centre in Calgary, mainly practicing in the area of family law. Lonny is a pro bono leader in the Calgary community and volunteers his time and talents to many community and legal organizations.
Lonny is one of the founding members of the Dispute Resolution Officer Project in Calgary, along with fellow family law practitioners Blair Laven, Victor Tousignant, QC (as he then was) and Doug Moe, QC. Founded in 2001, this program helps parties to resolve their family law disputes before they go before the court. The Project encourages family law litigants applying for or varying a child support order to mediate their dispute with a Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) before going to court. Senior members of the family law bar volunteer to act as DROs to help parties reach a mediated agreement on the issues without having to appear in front of a Justice in Chambers. There is no cost to the litigants to participate in the program and this has made it easier for clients going through a divorce to resolve their disputes. For those litigants who have participated in the program, it has meant a significant savings in terms of stress, time and money. This Project, which was originally created as a collaboration between the courts and volunteers from the family law bar has now been permanently adopted by the Court of Queen's Bench as a valuable legal program to resolve family law disputes.

Lonny has also loaned his legal talents to a number of other voluntary projects. He is past Chairman of the CBA's National Family Law Section and a member of the Canadian Federal Advisory Working Group on Family Law in Ottawa. Previously, Lonny has also acted as legal counsel to the Make a Wish Foundation of Canada.

He has also taught courses with the Legal Education Society of Alberta, different universities and at many conferences throughout the world. In September 2008, Lonny spoke about his experiences with Pro Bono Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Projects at the National Pro Bono Conference in Vancouver.

Lonny also volunteers his time to other pursuits outside of his profession. He volunteers weekly to serve dinner to Calgary's homeless population through the Mustard Seed as well as being involved with a number of other community endeavours.

According to Lonny, "pro bono work is important to our community. Lawyers should be encouraged to have a specific policy in this area. There are many contributions that lawyers can make to the community as a whole and an equally large number of ways in which they can do it."

Richard Assinger, Red Deer

Richard Assinger was admitted to the Alberta bar in 1995 and operates Assinger Law Office in Red Deer. Rick is a pro bono leader in the Red Deer community and volunteers his time and talents to many community and pro bono organizations.

Rick is one of the founding members of the Loaves and Fishes Legal Consultation Project. Founded in 1999, Loaves and Fishes serves a busy drop-in shelter for the transient population in Central Alberta. As part of the Loaves and Fishes Consultation program, local lawyers help to serve dinner to the residents and then, after dinner, provide summary legal advice to those who are in need of legal guidance. For the past eight years, Rick has greatly contributed to the success of the program by recruiting, coordinating and scheduling the volunteer lawyers, as well as serving as a volunteer himself.

Richard is also a volunteer with the Central Alberta Community Legal Clinic, where he has served as a volunteer lawyer for the past year. The Central Alberta Community Legal Clinic is a pro bono legal clinic in Red Deer that offers free legal advice to those that do not qualify for legal aid and cannot afford the services of a lawyer.

However, Richard's volunteer experiences do not stop there. He has served on many boards for other community organizations including the Canadian Mental Health Association, Community Housing Advisory Committee, and the Sunnybrook Farm Museum Society. He was honored by the Province of Alberta in 2005 with the Alberta Centennial Medal.

In June 2008, Richard received the first ever Prism Award awarded by the Central Alberta Bar Association and the Central Alberta Legal Clinic Foundation for his pro bono legal service and service to the community. This annual award recognizes a member of the Central Alberta bar who has devoted time and energies to the promotion or delivery of pro bono legal services in Central Alberta. Upon being recognized by CABA and CALCF for his pro bono work, Richard stated that "it is very rewarding to be recognized by my peers for this work. It is most gratifying, more so than monetary awards."