Spotlight: Nicco Bautista

This month’s first spotlight is Nicco Bautista. Nicco is the Director of Estate Planning at BMO Wealth Management and a current FACL BC member.

1. What is something not many people know about you? 

While I was rehabbing from a knee injury in high school, I was the football team's water boy.  You do not want to know what goes into the water cooler. 

2. How did you first get involved with FACL? 

My first event was one of the inaugural networking events when I was a 1L student.  To (finally!) be in a room with people that resembled me, not just physically, but also my cultural lens through which I perceived what it meant to be "successful" or "worthy" was not just career altering;  it was life changing.  Since then, I am one of FACL's biggest fans, witnessing with great pride the growth and development of its programs under its leadership, including during Maria Kim-Bautista's stint as President. In furtherance of FACL's goal of supporting and uplifting Asian Canadian lawyers and students, we have since established the Kim-Bautista Award in Law, which is an endowment at Allard Law School providing financial support to law students of colour, with a preference for those who would be the first person in their family to join the legal community.    

3. What advice would you give yourself if you were to go back in time? 

You belong. Keep proving them wrong.

4. What has been your favourite FACL event or initiative so far?

There are too many to name, but by far, the Galas (and the stops after the Gala) have always been a personal favourite.  I have always told my wife, Maria, that I circle the Gala on my calendar - when you have so many of your favourite people in the city in one room, it's hard not to get excited!