Walker chairs the criminal justice section of CBA’s Nunavut branch
Lana Walker is the new director of the Nunavut Law Program at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, effective July 1.
Walker has been appointed to the role following the departure of her predecessor, Stephen Mansell, who was named Nunavut’s deputy justice minister, effective April 17.
For the past decade, Walker has been a criminal law practitioner. She obtained a law degree from Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law in 2006 and successfully sought admission to the Ontario bar in 2008. She then worked as an associate at a large criminal defence firm in Toronto before opening her own practice in 2011, which centred exclusively on trial litigation.
In 2014, Walker joined Nunavut Legal Aid’s private panel and became a member of the Law Society of Nunavut. For Nunavut Legal Aid, she worked as a staff criminal lawyer and eventually took on a leadership role as a senior criminal lawyer who helped in administering the criminal dockets for the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.
Walker is chairperson of the criminal justice section of the Nunavut branch of the Canadian Bar Association. She is also a member of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association of Ontario. For the Nunavut Law Program, she has served in its advisory committee and has taught as a sessional lecturer.
Martin Phillipson, dean of the law school, described Walker as a passionate advocate for access to justice and for helping people navigate the criminal justice system. “I look forward to working with her to continue to provide our students in Iqaluit with the academic and practical skills that will enable them to succeed in the practice of law,” said Phillipson.
“The NLP students are an energetic, bright, and motivated group who will have an incredibly positive impact on the future of the legal profession in Nunavut,” said Walker. She said that she also looked forward to working alongside the law school and the program’s partners.
The Nunavut Law Program, launched in 2017, is a collaboration among the law school, the Nunavut Arctic College and the Government of Nunavut. The program seeks to increase the number of practising lawyers in Nunavut.
