Board of Directors

Meet our 2025-2026 Board of Directors! Learn more about FACL BC's structure, mission, and committees here. 

President

Jennine Punzalan (she/her) is Legal Counsel at Pomerleau Construction and completed a clerkship at the Federal Court. She has an affinity for musical theatre, Scandinavian design, and cats. 

Vice-President External

Sebastian Chern (he/him) is an associate at Ascent Employment Law. Sebastian is proudly Taiwanese and is always on the hunt for the best beef noodle soup in Vancouver (he still strongly believes his mom's is the best).

Vice-President Internal

Xue Zhang (she/her) is a corporate and real estate lawyer in the Asia Pacific Group at Lawson Lundell LLP. In her spare time, Xue enjoys discovering new restaurants, hitting the slopes for snowboarding, and exploring scenic trails.

Treasurer

Colin Lam is an associate in the Tax Group at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. He enjoys travel blogging, cheering on the Vancouver Canucks, and making his way through his ever-growing list of movies, travel destinations, and local hikes.

Advisory Director

Jenny Huang (she/her) is an associate at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.  She has scaled a cliff in Iceland, auditioned for the Great Canadian Baking Show and appeared in a superhero TV show, but one of the above is a lie. Come to the next FACL BC event to find out the truth!

Secretary

Becca Liu (she/her) is a litigation lawyer. She is a magic show enthusiast and proud Corgi owner.

Director-at-Large

Daniel Lee is a partner at Fasken. He is an experienced Canadian corporate immigration lawyer and recognized thought leader with a background in human resources. He is actively involved in the legal community and is often called upon to render legal opinions and provide his viewpoints on a broad range of complex immigration policy issues.

Director-at-Large

Julia Wang (she/her) is a corporate commercial lawyer at MacKenzie Fujisawa LLP. Outside of the office, she enjoys planning imaginary home redesigns and always maintains a running list of new restaurants to try. She’s fluent in Mandarin and often mentally re-translates subtitles while watching Chinese movies.

Director-at-Large

Karen Claus (she/her) is the founder of Karen Claus Law which provides fractional general counsel services to growing companies, with a focus on the technology sector. Her early years as a litigator continue to shape her pragmatic, risk-aware approach to advising clients. Karen is called to the bar in both British Columbia and Ontario and holds CIPP/C and CIPP/US designations.

Outside of her practice, Karen is a proud mother of daughters. She also enjoys creating community by hosting dinners, starting her day with a podcast and a walk, and reading biographies of extraordinary people.

Director-at-Large

Miguel Oreta (he/him) is a criminal lawyer in Vancouver, BC. He believes that justice should be served cold, otherwise it would be justwater.

Director-at-Large

Nyusha Samiei is a family lawyer running her own practice. She is fluent in English, French, and Persian and holds two Masters degrees in history. When she’s not lawyering, you can find her cooking for her friends or spending time with her two cats.

Director-at-Large

Sabrina Ouyang (she/her) is wrapping up her articles at Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP and will be joining the Wills and Estates and Business groups as an associate. When she’s not at work, she enjoys cycling, hosting board game nights with friends, or catching the sunset.

Director-at-Large

Serena Cheong (she/her) is an associate at Hammerco Lawyers LLP, primarily practicing class actions and civil sexual assault. Serena is, unfortunately, an avid Canucks fan.

Director-at-Large

Tiffany Ho (she/her) is an associate at Owen Bird Law Corporation. Outside of work, Tiffany is actively involved in volunteering with local non-profit organizations and enjoys staying active throughout the city. She is also an avid foodie and passionate traveler.

Student Director (TRU)

Aneesha Gill (she/her) is a second-year law student at Thompson Rivers University who plans her travels around good food and is easily influenced by cute Instagram-worthy desserts. She believes every good day starts with a matcha, ends with something sweet, and is best spent discovering new bites in new places.

Student Director (UVic)

Deeva Wazir (she/her) is a JD Candidate at the University of Victoria, entering her second year of law school. Since immigrating to Canada, she has been deeply committed to advocacy and community service. She began her journey in Calgary, where she actively volunteered with the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association and the City of Calgary, focusing on initiatives that supported newcomers and promoted inclusion.

At UVic, Deeva continues this work as the Student Director for FACL BC, and through her involvement with Pro Bono Students Canada and Amici Curiae, helping to expand access to justice for marginalized communities.

Outside of law, Deeva is a food and lifestyle content creator with an audience of over 240,000, where she highlights immigrant-owned and small businesses across Canada. Drawing from her own experience as the daughter of immigrants, she is passionate about advancing representation, equity, and belonging in the legal profession.

Student Director (UBC)

Kristy Shum (she/her) is a third year student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Kristy enjoys trying new fitness classes, watching cooking shows, and spending time with her cats.

Area Director (Kamloops)

Shazia Hosenbocus (she/her) is an associate at Morelli Chertkow LLP in Kamloops. In her spare time, Shazia enjoys hiking and paddle boarding with her dog, Waffle, and coaching local Special Olympics powerlifting athletes.

Area Director (Victoria)

Moora Paw (she/her) is an articling student at Pearlman Lindholm. As a first-generation immigrant and the first Karen (Kayin) tow attend law school in Canada, she aims to create more inclusive environments for underrepresented communities within the legal profession.