One appointed to the BC Court of Appeal and the other three to the BC Supreme Court
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti recently announced the appointments of Ronald Skolrood to the Court of Appeal for British Columbia and Joseph Doyle, Kevin Loo, and Anita Chan to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
“I wish Justices Skolrood, Doyle, Loo, and Chan every success as they take on their new roles. I am confident they will serve British Columbians well as members of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of British Columbia,” Lametti said.
Skolrood is a former judge of the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver. He replaces Justice G. Bruce Butler, who chose to become a supernumerary judge in April.
Before joining the Supreme Court in 2013, Skolrood worked at Lawson Lundell LLP in Vancouver for 26 years. He focused on civil and commercial litigation. In 2012, he received Queen’s counsel designation.
He previously served on the board of the BC Law Institute and acted as its chair from 2007 to 2012. Moreover, he is a past member of the Canadian Bar Association’s national constitutional and human rights law section and the Law Society of British Columbia’s special compensation fund committee. He was a sessional lecturer at the University of Victoria and a course group leader at the University of British Columbia.
He obtained his law degree from the University of Victoria in 1986. He also completed a Master of Laws degree at the University of Cambridge in 1989. He was admitted to the British Columbia and Northwest Territories bars in 1988 and 2010.
Doyle was a sole practitioner in Vancouver. He succeeds Justice Karen Horsman, elevated to the Court of Appeal in April.
Practising for over 30 years, he worked as defence counsel, Crown counsel, special prosecutor, and amicus curiae before and to various tribunals. He is primarily known for his work in criminal and administrative law and civil litigation and has appeared before all levels of courts in British Columbia, Manitoba and Yukon, and the Supreme Court of Canada. He was appointed Queen’s counsel in 2019.
Aside from his legal work, he mentors young lawyers and is a staunch supporter of legal education and access to justice. He was an elected member of the Canadian Bar Association’s BC branch and previously served as president of the Vancouver Bar Association.
He completed a joint law and commerce degree at the University of British Columbia in 1988.
Loo was a partner at Nathanson Schachter & Thompson LLP (NST) in Vancouver. He replaces Justice Joel Groves, who chose to become a supernumerary judge in June.
He first served as a law clerk to the BC Court of Appeal. He then worked at NST and became a partner in 2001. He practised commercial litigation and bankruptcy and insolvency law. He has appeared before the BC Supreme Court, the BC Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, and the Federal Court. He received Queen’s counsel designation in 2021.
Besides his legal duties, he has frequently contributed to continuing legal education. He taught a trial advocacy course at the Peter A. Allard School of Law and served as a speaker for the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia. He also authored numerous written publications.
He received his law degree from the University of Toronto in 1992 and was called to the British Columbia bar in 1994.
Chan recently worked as a Crown counsel with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada ((PPSC) in Vancouver. She succeeds Justice Grace Choi, who resigned from the judicial post in July.
She initially served as a law clerk at the BC Court of Appeal. She joined the PPSC in 1995 and spent 27 years as a prosecutor. Her practice focused on complex organized crime trials involving challenges to multiple search warrants and wiretaps, and she has appeared before all levels of court in British Columbia.
In addition, she has worked on various files around drugs, firearms, proceeds of crime, extradition, income tax fraud, national security, regulatory offences, and criminal organizations. She has conducted lengthy jury and judge-alone trials throughout British Columbia and Alberta. Before her legal career, she worked as a newspaper reporter in Owen Sound and London.
She earned her law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1992.
