We are pleased to announce that we have two new lawyers on our team: Kaja Marinic, who has just joined our office, and Jeri Chow, our former articling student who has recently been called to the bar. We'd like to take this opportunity to formally introduce them.

Kaja obtained her BA (2013) and JD (2016) from the University of British Columbia. During university, Kaja honed her skills for advocacy, public speaking, and complex written analysis. She was an internationally successful competitive debater, reaching the elimination rounds of two world championships and the quarterfinals of the North American championships. She volunteered and then worked as a legal intern for Battered Women’s Support Services, where she provided legal information and advocacy to women facing family violence. Based on her coursework and advocacy, Kaja was awarded the Marlee G. Kline Essay Prize and the Auriol Gurner Young Memorial Award in law school for her contributions to feminism and the law.

Kaja was called to the bar in 2017. Most recently before joining the Kitsilano Family Law Group, she worked at a boutique downtown family law firm. Kaja has gained a range of experience in family law issues. She has represented both high-net-worth clients facing complex financial issues, and marginalized clients facing multiple barriers to accessing justice. Kaja has successfully resolved both amicable and contentious family matters. She has experience in drafting family law agreements, negotiating, mediating, arbitrating, and litigating in court. She has appeared numerous times in both Provincial and Supreme Courts in BC, and has drafted a successful factum for the BC Court of Appeal. Kaja's approach to family law centres on providing excellent, cost-effective, and compassionate service; striving to protect the best interests of children; and mitigating conflict whenever possible. However, when necessary, Kaja is a fierce and persuasive advocate. She is dedicated to improving access to justice, and will accept legal aid files and clients who require unbundled services. Kaja also volunteers her time with local organizations to provide pro bono summary legal advice. Kaja is fluent in Serbo-Croatian.

Jeri received her BA from UBC in 2014 and went on to obtain her JD with distinction from the University of Saskatchewan in 2019. Among the personal highlights of her law school career, Jeri competed in the national Kawaskimhon Aboriginal Law Moot, helped expand the Western Chapter of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL) into Saskatchewan, and spent an exchange term in Sweden at Lund University. Jeri worked as a research assistant for a number of professors during law school, including Professor Wanda Wiegers on a project about non-parental care arrangements in BC, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

Jeri previously interned at the Hague Conference on Private International Law - Asia Pacific Office in Hong Kong, contributing to research on international child abductions. Her interest in Hague Convention cases led her to complete her articles with the Kitsilano Family Law Group under the mentorship of Bill Storey and Clea Amundsen. Jeri's approach to practice includes: (1) exercising empathy to her clients and their family, (2) seeking the most time-efficient and cost-effective method, (3) mitigating conflict wherever possible, and (4) obtaining results for her clients.

Jeri is able to serve clients in Cantonese and Mandarin.

Welcome to Kaja, and congratulations to Jeri! We are confident that both Kaja and Jeri will be assets to our firm, and are very excited to have them on board.