Bio: Shaunna Mireau spent her career working in private law firm libraries. She retired from the Field Law firm in 2018 as the Director of Knowledge Management and Process Improvement where she used Lean Six Sigma methods to help legal teams work better and faster. While mostly retired, these days she sits on the board of directors for EQUS, the largest rural power Co-op in Alberta. She also works with Alexsei, a legal tech startup that builds an objective legal memo using lawyer-supervised AI.

Bio: Peter Sankoff has three important roles in the legal community. He is:

• A full Professor at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law since 2012;
• Lead Counsel at Sankoff Criminal Law, where he regularly appears before appellate courts across Canada, including the Supreme Court on six occasions; and, 
• Founder and CEO of Criminal Defence Essentials (CDE), which provides CLE and resources for criminal lawyers (petersankoff.com), and publishes books on a variety of topics.

Peter graduated with a JD from the University of Toronto and subsequently worked as a law clerk for Madame Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé at the Supreme Court of Canada. Peter authors or co-authors leading texts on the law of evidence (The Law of Witnesses and Evidence in Canada), criminal law (Manning, Mewett, Sankoff: Criminal Law, 5th ed.), and animals and the law (Canadian Perspectives on Animals and the Law). 

His most recent book is Professor Sankoff’s Guide to Persuasive Legal Writing (2022), and he is working on Professor Sankoff’s Guide to Criminal Defences (2023, forthcoming). He was named one of Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers by Canadian Lawyer magazine in 2020. 

Bio: Katie Cuyler is the Open Publishing and Government Information Librarian at the University of Alberta Library. Katie has over ten years of experience working with legal and government research. She was a liaison librarian for the Faculty of Law, and other departments, at the University of Alberta for six years, from 2016 to 2022. Additionally, for five years before joining UAlberta, she worked within the legal industry as an Intelligence Strategist for Bennett Jones LLP.

Bio: Sara is a librarian with The Alberta Legislature Library. She began her career at the Legislature in 2011 as a library student and returned “home” in January 2023. She has held positions at Bruce Peel Special Collections, the MacEwan University John L. Harr Library, and more recently spent 5 years as a Law Librarian with Alberta Law Libraries. Her focus has been primarily on legal and legislative research, making her return to the Legislature Library the perfect fit.

Bio: Dominique Garingan is a library manager at Parlee McLaws LLP and a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Law. She holds a Master of Laws (LLM, Liverpool) specializing in technology and intellectual property law and a Master of Science (MSc, Northumbria) specializing in information science and library management. Prior to joining the legal information profession, Dominique worked for the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, the Calgary Public Library, Legal Aid Alberta, and the University of Calgary Continuing Education. Dominique is a member of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and an editorial board member of the Canadian Law Library Review.

Bio: Doris Wagner is a Faculty Engagement Librarian for Law, Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Alberta. She has spent her career working in academic libraries as librarian and library assistant. Her professional interests include student engagement, information literacy, Copyright, and professional development and mentorship of students and new librarians. She has been involved in contributing to professional organizations such the Edmonton Law Libraries Association, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries, the Greater Edmonton Library Association and the Alberta Association of Academic Libraries.

Bio: Amy Durand earned her law degree after a decade of working in the public and not-for-profit sectors. A problem solver, she chose to practice law as a way of helping people and organizations advance their interests and make meaningful changes in their communities. 

Amy joined Field Law in April 2023 after articling at the Alberta Court of King’s Bench. During her time at the University of Alberta, she was a member of the Alberta Law Review and a writer for the Faculty of Law’s ReconciliACTION blog. Driven by a deep commitment to reconciliation and the public good, Amy has a particular interest in advocating for Indigenous clients and communities. 

In her previous work, Amy has advised Ministers, elected officials and senior political staff. Her main focus is the practical impact of her work for her clients.

Bio: Tamya Chowdhury is an associate in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution group and Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy group of the Dentons Edmonton office. She has a wide range of experience, including corporate fraud, health law, and other corporate/commercial litigation.

Tamya graduated from the University of Alberta, where she obtained her BSc in Nursing. During her undergrad, she volunteered as a caseworker at the University of Alberta’s Student Legal Services, where she provided legal information and assistance for individuals charged with minor criminal and quasi-criminal offences. She later went on to attain her JD from the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law. After law school, Tamya worked as a clerkship student at the Provincial Court of Alberta, where she conducted research in various areas of law, wrote summaries, drafted memoranda, analyzed materials filed with the Court, reviewed and commented on draft judgments, and assisted judges in the work of the Court.

Tamya joined Dentons as a summer law student in 2020 and articled with the Firm in 2022.

Bio: Tyler Goddard is a litigation associate with Parlee McLaws LLP. He works with the Labour & Employment and Insurance teams. Prior to completing his articles with Parlee, Tyler clerked with the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. During law school, Tyler was a writing fellow and worked for the Legislative Reform team of Alberta Justice and Solicitor General.

Website: Alberta Law Libraries