Louise Mandell, Q.C.

SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL

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.