Experience
Mediator
Shelina has developed her mediation knowledge and skills over a period of more than 20 years of combined training and professional experience in Social Work and Law. This unique blend has provided her with numerous opportunities to practice mediations in a variety of family and civil matters.
Shelina has mediation experience in a wide range of disputes, including:
- custody, access, guardianship, spousal and child support, child protection as well as property division, including RRSP’s, pensions, and family businesses
- insurance disputes and motor vehicle accident injury claims with ICBC
- small business disputes between partners, home owners, and contractors.
Her ultimate goal is to assist participants, by moving through the stages of mediation and ultimately helping them reach agreement.
In addition to her social work degree, Shelina has completed specific mediation training, including:
- 1999Continuing Legal Education Society of BC – Family Law Mediation
- 2002Justice Institute of BC, Centre for Conflict Resolution – Restorative Justice
- 2005Continuing Legal Education Society of BC – Advanced Civil Mediation
- 2006BC Dispute Resolution Practicum Society – Family Mediation Practicum
- 2007Justice Institute of BC, Centre for Conflict Resolution – Mediation Skills Level 2
Lawyer
After obtaining a Bachelor of Social Work in 1986 and a Bachelor of Law in 1989 (both from the University of British Columbia), and being called to the bar in Ontario (1990) and in B.C. (1995), Shelina began a rewarding career as a lawyer, specializing in family & civil law.
The expertise she offers to her clients extends from this background, including:
- Representing parents in custody, guardianship, access, support and property disputes
- Acting for both the government and parents in child protection matters
- Representing children as an appointed member of the Official Guardian Panel and Young Offenders in Youth Criminal Court.
Shelina practiced primarily family law until 2002, when she expanded her matrimonial litigation practice to include insurance litigation, including specializing in motor vehicle accident litigation.
She has expertise in the Provincial Courts (family / youth / criminal / small claims), as well as in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Positions held include:
- Associate Lawyer, Somers & Company
- Associate Lawyer, Wingham, Kinsman
- In-house Counsel, Family Maintenance Enforcement Program
- Legal Counsel, Legal Services Society, Family Law Clinic
- Legal Counsel, Ministry of the Attorney General, Family Support Plan, Ontario
- Member, Official Guardian Panel, Ontario
- Associate Lawyer, Margaret Buist Law Offices
Writer and Speaker
Shelina has been a contributing editor of the British Columbia Family Practice Manual, as well a contributing author of the Canadian Journal of Woman and the Law, and course readers at Carleton University and Simon Fraser University.
Shelina has taught academic courses at the University College of the Fraser Valley. She has also spoken at various seminars over the past 20 years for organizations such as the Trial Lawyers Association, Peoples Law School, and the Law Courts Education Society.
