Holly Dreger

We are proud to note that as of September 1, our colleague Frank Friesacher began serving as the President of the Canadian Bar Association – Alberta Branch for the 2018-2019 term. Frank will spend the next year maintaining his busy family law and estate litigation practice, while also working to better our profession through his leadership with CBA Alberta.

The Canadian Bar Association is the leader and voice of Canada’s legal profession, promoting fair justice systems, facilitating effective law reform, upholding equality in the legal profession and being devoted to eliminating discrimination. It is also a premiere provider of quality training and information to members of the legal profession. The Alberta Branch represents some 5,000 lawyers, judges, law teachers and law students from across Alberta. Approximately two-thirds of all practicing lawyers in Canada belong to the CBA.

More information on the CBA is here: https://www.cba-alberta.org

McCuaig Desrochers LLP is pleased to welcome Patrick Coones as an articling student. Throughout his articling year, Patrick will gain experience in a variety of areas of law.

Patrick joined McCuaig Desrochers LLP as an articling student in 2018.

Patrick obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law in 2018. Throughout law school, Patrick was heavily involved with both Student Legal Services of Edmonton (SLS) and Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC). He worked as a Civil/Family Law Dayleader in 2016 and subsequently served on the Executive Committee of SLS in 2017 as the PBSC Project Coordinator, a role that saw him work with local and remote not-for-profit organizations.

Patrick received numerous awards for his volunteer work including The Genevieve Veale Memorial Award and the Pro Bono Champions of the Future Award. Patrick was also one of the 8 finalists and the only Canadian selected for the Pro Bono Publico Award

Having grown up in Edmonton’s French Quarter, Patrick is also fully bilingual. Outside of work, Patrick enjoys a variety of activities, including hockey, softball, golfing, hiking and fishing.

McCuaig Desrochers LLP is pleased to welcome Travis Yachimec as an articling student. Throughout his articling year, Travis will gain experience in a variety of areas of law.

Travis Yachimec joined McCuaig Desrochers LLP as an articling student in 2018.

He received his Bachelor of Commerce Degree with Distinction (majoring in Finance) from the University of Alberta in 2014 and his Juris Doctor with Distinction from the University of Alberta in 2018. In addition to these degrees, Travis has also received a Certification in Business Administration with Distinction from Northern Lakes College in 2010, as well as a Diploma in Business Administration from Portage College in 2011.

During law school, Travis volunteered both with Student Legal Services under the Civil/Family Law Project, as well as Habitat for Humanity, helping build houses in Fort Saskatchewan.

Outside of work, Travis enjoys fishing, hiking, playing guitar and cheering on both the Edmonton Oilers and the Edmonton Eskimos.

Recently McCuaig Desrochers LLP stepped up to the Walk at Work Challenge. Teams of lawyers and staff tracked their steps all day every day for a month. Everyone had a great time getting active, competing with their colleagues and taking selfies along the way.

As an office we covered 6,195,138 steps, which is about 4720 kms! This is the same distance as walking from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Lisbon, Portugal across the Atlantic Ocean.

All that stepping burned about 300,000 calories, which equals to any one of the following:

• 132 medium pizzas
• 533 Big Macs
• 42 whole roasted turkeys
• 2000 cans of Coke
• A meatball sub that is 280 feet long (that’s 26 stories)!

We look forward to doing it again next year.

Félicitations à Justin E. Kingston qui a été élu président de l’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Alberta (AJEFA) le 1 juin 2018. / Congratulations to Justin E. Kingston who was elected president of the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Alberta on June 1st, 2018.

McCuaig Desrochers LLP is pleased to welcome Allison Purdon as an articling student. Throughout her articling year, Allison will gain experience in a variety of areas of law.

Allison joined McCuaig Desrochers LLP as an articling student in 2018, after completing a clerkship with the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton.

She received a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor, both with Distinction, from the University of Alberta. Between these degrees, Allison worked for several Edmonton nonprofit organizations.

During law school, Allison volunteered with the Women’s Law Forum and was involved with the Edmonton Community Legal Centre. She also received a number of academic awards, including the Judges’ Bronze Medal in Law and the Honourable Donald Lee Prize in Immigration Law.

In her free time, Allison likes to read fiction, bake, and attempt yoga.

We are pleased to announce that Megan Dawson has joined the partnership. Welcome Megan!

Please note that our offices will be closed as of 4:30 pm on Friday, December 22^nd, 2017 for the winter holiday, and will reopen 8:30 am on Tuesday, January 2^nd, 2018.