Executive Director & General Counsel

Leigha jokingly refers to herself as the PIAC cat that came back. She originally joined BCPIAC in 2006 as a staff lawyer and she was appointed its Executive Director in July of 2011 until she left the organization in June of 2013. After almost four years, she has returned to her favorite not-for-profit law office as its General Counsel & Executive Director. It goes without saying that she is thrilled to again be putting her extensive experience in utility regulation law to use on behalf of British Columbia’s low and fixed income ratepayers while also again using her strong social justice analyses and legal skills in cases strategically chosen to address systemic issues affecting those people in our province who experience poverty and oppression.

Before taking up (and returning to) the mantle as PIAC’s once and future Executive Director, Leigha had a diverse legal practice in a variety of situations. She’s been a sole practitioner, a contract lawyer, in-house counsel, out-house counsel, and she was one of two founding partners of one of Vancouver’s most progressive union-side labour, employment, elections law, and utility regulation firms. She is a legal renaissance woman who is equally comfortable dealing with issues that touch on human rights, administrative, employment, utility regulation, criminal, prison, aboriginal, and constitutional law.

In her spare time, Leigha is a nerdista: a passionate consumer (and creator) of all that is nerdy. She also writes fantasy novels and short stories she doesn’t dare let anyone read when she isn’t chasing after her two children or weeding what she calls her Backyard Zombie-Apocalypse Test Garden.

Sr. Staff Lawyer

Irina joined BCPIAC as a staff lawyer in October 2018. She focuses on utility regulation and anti-poverty law.

 Irina earned her Juris Doctor in 2015 from the University of British Columbia. After law school, she completed her articles with Richards Buell Sutton LLP (“RBS”), a full-service downtown firm.   She then joined a plaintiff-side personal injury law firm, Spraggs & Co., helping those who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents. 

Her main interest, however, has been the promotion of social justice and human rights; and, this has been a consistent theme throughout her work and volunteer experience.   While at Law School, she joined the Pro Bono Student Canada Program, and volunteered with the Migrant Workers Centre (“MWC”), formerly the West Coast Domestic Workers' Association, a non-profit organization providing legal advice to migrant workers. There she assisted low-income immigrant women who were facing immigration, employment, and criminal challenges. She continued with MWC, as a 1L summer student to further migrant workers’ rights, and to gain advocacy experience. In 2016-2017 she was a Board Member with MWC, and she is a currently serving on its Governance Committee.

Before becoming a lawyer in Canada, Irina worked as a criminal prosecutor overseas, graduating from Tomsk State University (Russia) with a Civil Law Degree, cum laude.

 When not focused on work, Irina is an outdoor enthusiast, avid photographer, and blogger.