Biography

Leigh practices in the Family Law group at Vogel Verjee and has successfully appeared before the Provincial Court of Alberta, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and the Alberta Court of Appeal. She has successful reported decisions in all three levels of court. Leigh assists clients in all facets of family law including support, matrimonial property division, and parenting matters.

In particular, Leigh is on the short list of lawyers who are able to advocate for clients in the complicated areas of international family law, child abduction, adoption, surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology. While she has been practicing exclusively family law since 2011, prior to that she honed her litigation skills practicing criminal law in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Leigh’s experience in international family law is aided by a Master of Laws obtained from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. She has advocated for clients in international child abduction matters under the Hague Convention in front of all three levels of court in Alberta. Leigh has a thorough understanding of the law in abduction and jurisdiction, so much so that she has been retained by counsel in another province to provide expert opinion evidence regarding jurisdiction in a child abduction case.

Notwithstanding her strong litigation background, Leigh routinely assists clients in resolving family law matters through alternative dispute resolution such as settlement meetings, mediation, arbitration or judicial dispute resolutions.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Leigh’s career was in the field of mental health and addiction, where she worked as a youth and family counsellor, and then as an addictions manager at a treatment facility. Leigh’s prior and unique experience in conflict resolution with families experiencing trauma, as well as her experience in litigation and criminal defence, gives her a particular interest in the well-being of children and resolving parenting disputes by bringing a balanced but firm approach to family law.