Sexual Violence (Civil) Conference 2025

Course Chairs
Sandra L. Kovacs — KazLaw Injury Lawyers, Vancouver
Janelle O'Connor — Murphy Battista LLP, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Sandy Kovacs is a leading personal injury trial lawyer in BC. Alongside her colleague Tanya Martin, she is also an adjunct professor teaching Law 433C: Special Topics in Tort Law (Personal Injury) at UBC. She is a past president of the Vancouver Bar Association and a past president of the Lawyers' Inn Society (Law Courts Inn). She currently sits on the board of directors for the Lawyers' Assistance Program (LAPBC).

Prior to joining the plaintiffs' bar in 2016, she worked for more than a decade as insurance defence counsel, mostly in aviation, occupier's liability, and medical malpractice matters. For the past seven years, she has worked exclusively for plaintiffs with complex personal injury claims for losses arising from historical sexual abuse, traumatic brain injuries, orthopedic injuries, and chronic pain. She achieved what may be the largest personal injury judgment in the history of the province for a severely brain injured plaintiff, in Uy v. Dhillon, 2020 BCSC 1302, a record punitive damages award against a Roman Catholic Diocese in a historical abuse claim, the first involving an adult victim in Canada, in Anderson v. Molon, 2020 BCSC 1247, and the largest compensatory damages judgment for a childhood sexual abuse survivor in H.N. v. School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria), 2024 BCSC 128, a decision that is under appeal on the issue of vicarious liability. Recently, she settled a historical child sexual grooming and abuse claim for $3.4M. In addition to her injury practice, drawing on her previous experience in insurance matters, she also takes occasional retainers as independent counsel for insured policyholders in above-policy limits exposure matters.

Janelle O'Connor is a plaintiff lawyer at Murphy Battista LLP who practices exclusively in the areas of civil sexual assault and class actions on behalf of plaintiffs. She represents men, women, and children in their civil sexual assault claims, both historical and recent. Many of her sexual abuse cases involve institutions, such as religious organizations, school boards, and government ministries. She also pursues class actions, with a particular interest in those involving institutional abuse. Notably, she was class counsel in the settlement of an estimated $100M class action for women who experienced gender and sexual harassment while working and volunteering with the RCMP in non-member roles. For over a decade, her personal and professional interests have been in the socio-legal field, with a particular interest in Indigenous issues and gender violence.

Faculty
Gavin Cameron — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Morgyn Chandler — Hammerco Lawyers LLP, Vancouver
Nicole C. Gilewicz — Hunter Litigation Chambers, Vancouver
Kevin Gourlay — Murphy Battista LLP, Vancouver
Nathaniel J. Hartney — Preszler Law Firm LLP, Vancouver
Ruth Lanius, Professor of Psychiatry — Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, ON
Janis D. McAfee — Dolden Wallace Folick LLP, Kelowna
Shari R. Pearlman, LCSW, JD — Assistant Director/Lawyer Counsellor, Lawyer Assistance Program of BC, Vancouver
William B. Smart, KC — Hunter Litigation Chambers, Vancouver