WHO WE ARE

Founding President of Legal Coaches Association

Jo-Anne began her legal career in 1993 and is a strong advocate for access to justice, having worked as a legal coach in the Province of Saskatchewan.  A member of both the British Columbia Bar (retired) and Saskatchewan Bar (active), Jo-Anne has been invited to present on the topic of legal coaching and the use of technology to create efficiencies in the delivery of legal services and has published dozens of articles in national publications on the benefits of limited legal scope services.  Having spent many years as an arbitrator hearing thousands of cases, she is keenly aware of the challenges faced by self-represented litigants who are unable to afford lawyers and who do not qualify for legal aid services. Her development of a unique and affordable business model has transformed the way legal services can be provided virtually to self-represented clients.  Jo-Anne developed the CLC Certified Legal Coach training program and has published a book on legal coaching, Mastering the Art of Legal Coaching: The Legal Professional’s Guide to Empowering Clients.  She also served as the Director of Advocacy for the Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch) and operates Stark Solutions Legal Coaching & Consulting, the first all-virtual law firm dedicated to legal coaching and consulting.

Matt Canzer, LLB., CLC

Jennifer Buckley, CLC

Jennifer has been working as a litigation paralegal since 2013 and specifically in the field of family law since 2014. Jennifer currently works as designated paralegal/certified legal coach at a family law firm, supporting the firm’s lawyers on many of their files

Jennifer also takes on her cases, assisting self-represented litigants navigate their family law cases in all 3 levels of court as well as alternative dispute resolution cases. In 2022, Jennifer became an approved participant with the Law Society’s Innovation Sandbox which has allowed her to expand her services and become more involved in her client’s cases.

Outside of her day job, Jennifer volunteers with a non-profit society as a manager and volunteer paralegal assisting self-represented litigants draft legal forms as well as provide educational resources to the general public. Jennifer has become dedicated to finding ways to help others find affordable ways to access legal education and knowledge so the public can feel empowered while navigating their own legal matters.

Denea Bascombe, JD

Denea is a dual-licensed lawyer in both BC (practising) and New South Wales, Australia (non-practising). Denea completed her JD at the University of Sydney. She spent a number of years working with leading community legal organizations in Australia before moving back to her hometown of Vancouver. Denea is a tireless advocate for her clients, and has experience working across a wide range of general, everyday law practice areas. Today, she focuses on supporting clients through civil disputes, contract drafting and review for small businesses, and Intimate Image Protection Order claims. She acknowledges that many of these clients require further legal support, which they can’t always afford. She is proud to support innovative access to justice initiatives such as legal coaching.

Denea also holds both an Honours Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Policy from UBC, as well as a Master of Research in Law from Macquarie University in Australia. She maintains extensive experience as a consultant in law-adjacent fields, and has been published in local newspapers, think tanks, and academic journals.