A local lawyer has been recognized with the Queen's Counsel (Q.C.) designation.
Karen Lisa Whonnock, a member of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, is a sole practitioner and family mediator with Whonnock Law Firm, where her specific interests include gender and racial issues, and promoting Aboriginal courts in B.C., according to a government press release.
The Q.C. designation is an honour conferred annually on members of the legal profession to recognize exceptional merit and contribution and who have been members of the B.C. bar for at least five years. The appointments were made by cabinet through an order-in-council.
Whonnock has served on the executive of the Canadian Bar Association of BC Aboriginal lawyers forum, and on the executive of the Canadian Bar Association national Aboriginal law committee. She was an instructor at Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Washington and is a former instructor at the Justice Institute of BC.
Among the 32 lawyers who were given the Q.C. designation are those who have prosecuted high-profile criminal cases, family, civil and commercial law cases.
Many of the appointees have also advocated for seniors and the disabled, and have given back to their communities through a wide variety of charitable causes.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Whonnock as a defence lawyer and indicated that she is currently teaching at Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Washington. Those errors have since been corrected.