J. Vanessa Marshall

J.Vanessa Marshall was born in British Columbia but spent much of her youth in various parts of Eastern Canada. She returned home to BC in January 1999 where she pursued a double major of psychology and criminology with a minor in political science at Simon Fraser University. Vanessa received early acceptance to various law schools and decided to follow those opportunities thus leaving SFU a year prior to graduation. She then commenced her legal studies at Queens University in 2002. While there she was a member of the extremely successful Queen’s team in the national Wilson Moot competition of 2004. But British Columbia beckoned, so Vanessa returned west and completed her Bachelor of Laws at the University of British Columbia in May 2005. Upon completing her legal education, she undertook extensive articles and was called to the Bar in February 2007.

Vanessa’s first years of practice were in criminal law. She then expanded into a mixed criminal/civil law practice and now practices exclusively in civil litigation. Vanessa is passionate about being in the courtroom and strategizing behind the scenes. Having represented a diverse group of individuals and organizations in different practice areas, Vanessa is able to understand both sides to a given conflict and navigate differing perspectives by appreciating the strengths and weaknesses of each side. Fuelled by a strong sense of justice and backed by the rigorous training of criminal law, she has been successful in a variety of venues including the Residential Tenancy Board, the Human Rights Tribunal, the Provincial Court, the Supreme Court, and the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

Vanessa enjoys being resourceful with the challenges she encounters in law. In particular, she derives great satisfaction from drafting and arguing unique and creative submissions before the court in the course of bringing Chambers applications, closing arguments at trial, or submissions to the Court of Appeal. She is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the Trial Lawyers’ Association of British Columbia, and the Canadian Defence Lawyers.