Mastering Direct & Cross-Examination Techniques

The CBA is a professional organization that provides educational and networking opportunities for lawyers. Representing more than 36,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada, the CBA is committed to enhancing the professional and commercial interests of a diverse membership and to protecting the independence of the judiciary and the Bar.

Lara Jackson is a partner in the Litigation Group at Cassels and is Co-Chair of the firm’s Securities Litigation and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Groups. Lara’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on securities litigation and class action defence. Lara brings a strategic, experienced and practical approach to the most complicated disputes, while maintaining her focus on achieving resolution as efficiently as possible. Lara has represented clients in a broad range of highly contested commercial cases, including cross-border civil and regulatory proceedings, and is recognized as a leader in securities litigation, commercial litigation, and class action defence by Chambers Canada, Best Lawyers in Canada, Benchmark Litigation (including the top 100 women in litigation in Canada), and the Lexpert/ALG Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada. Lara is described by clients as “an excellent tactician” with “terrific judgment” who is “unflappable and very committed to getting the best results for her clients.” Lara regularly appears before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal and has argued appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Court of Appeal of Alberta, and the Court of Appeal of Yukon.

Ryan has been a Partner at JSS Barristers since 2020. He is an experienced advocate in commercial litigation and administrative law, with a particular focus on contractual interpretation and concurrent negligence claims, arbitration, construction, professional negligence, and judicial reviews. He has acted in many high-stakes commercial and public law disputes throughout his career, bringing a pragmatic approach to complex problems. In 2023, Ryan was named the Emerging Talent Alberta Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Litigation. Ryan has considerable experience in commercial arbitrations and a wide range of litigation at all levels of courts in Alberta, the Federal Court, the Superior Courts of British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Ryan has been counsel for a variety of individuals, public and private companies, governments, and administrative bodies, including the Information and Privacy Commissioner in judicial reviews. Ryan graduated from law school at the University of Saskatchewan, achieving a Dean’s List standing for academic excellence. In law school, he competed in the Gale Cup criminal-constitutional moot, and he studied abroad for a semester at Bond University on the Gold Coast of Australia. He was called to the British Columbia bar in 2012 before he moved to Calgary and joined JSS Barristers in 2014. Since 2021, Ryan has been a guest lecturer for the civil procedure law class at the University of Calgary.

Steve is a skilled advocate with more than 30 years of experience. He has represented individual and corporate clients before all levels of trial and appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and before various regulatory bodies, including the Ontario Securities Commission. His reputation as a leading Canadian litigator has led to numerous accolades by several international and national guides to the legal profession. Steve is a member of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. His practice focuses on class actions, securities, M&A, corporate, commercial, oppression, and privacy-related litigation. He has defended over a dozen securities and consumer-related class actions. Steve's experience also includes representing clients within the context of investigations by securities and law enforcement agencies. He has further undertaken internal investigations on behalf of clients. Steve began his legal career as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Frank Walwyn is known for his resourceful approach to litigating some of the most challenging business cases in Canada and the Caribbean. Frank is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is repeatedly named as one of Canada’s top lawyers in the area of Corporate and Commercial Litigation in The Best Lawyers in Canada, Lexology Index, Benchmark Canada, the Guide to Canada’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys, Chambers Global Guide, and the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, among many others. In March 2019, Frank was selected to receive a Law Society Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the Law Society of Ontario. In 2018, he was named as one of the Top 25 Most Influential in the justice system and legal profession in Canada by Canadian Lawyer magazine. Frank has also received the 2016 Ontario Bar Association Award for Distinguished Service, and a 2016 Lexpert Zenith Award as a champion of diversity and inclusion. Frank was a member of the Standing Strong Task Force struck by the President of Ryerson University to seek an understanding of Egerton Ryerson’s life and legacy in the context of his involvement with Canada’s Residential Schools, and to report on the role of commemoration in the community. The recommendations of this Task Force ultimately led to the renaming of Ryerson University as Toronto Metropolitan University, a change which was adopted in order to create a more inclusive campus culture and environment.

For nearly two decades, Laésha has maintained a dispute resolution practice that focuses on securities, administrative law and complex commercial litigation. As an administrative lawyer, she has worked extensively on investigations and enforcement proceedings involving government/regulatory agencies in the US, the UK and Canada. She has represented clients in hearings before various administrative tribunals and has assisted in both challenging and defending decisions or actions taken by governments, regulatory bodies and tribunals. Her clients have included global financial institutions with frequent international travel to represent them across multiple jurisdictions in Asia, Europe and North America. Her litigation experience builds upon her ability to advocate and navigate through complex contested proceedings. She has appeared as counsel at all levels of court in British Columbia and regularly assists clients to achieve favourable court outcomes as well as settlements. In BC, before Poulus Ensom Smith LLP, Laésha was a partner at McEwan Partners and served in the public sector as litigation counsel in the Enforcement Department of the British Columbia Securities Commission. Prior to relocating to BC in 2015, Laésha practiced for 10 years at top international law firms in New York (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP) and London (Allen & Overy LLP), where her practice focused on high-stakes commercial litigation and on acting for large financial institutions in relation to a broad range of regulatory and white collar criminal issues including market manipulation, insider trading, anti-bribery and corruption, mis-selling, fraud and other types of system and controls failings.