Mentorship

The Mentorship committee organizes and matches mentors with mentees and administers FACL's mentorship program and its speed mentorship event.

Description

A key component of FACL Ontario’s commitment to the promotion of equity, justice, and opportunities for pan-Asian Canadian legal professionals is our focus on providing mentorship experiences to our members.

Throughout the year, we provide a variety of networking and social events that connect senior members of the bar with junior practitioners and students.  In addition, we offer two dedicated mentorship programs for FACL Ontario members.

Our annual speed mentoring event, the Mentor-A-Thon, takes place in the first quarter of every year. Student members have the chance to connect with experienced members of the bar through a speed mentoring session.  Up-and-comers are also given the chance to provide mentorship to the next generation of lawyers.  This event has proven to be an excellent opportunity to exchange advice, expand networks, and make connections.

In 2016, FACL Ontario launched a new pilot mentorship program. The purpose of the new program is to provide mid-level practitioners with guidance and networking opportunities to enhance their chances of promotion to senior positions within their chosen sector of law, whether it be partner, senior in-house counsel, Crown prosecutor, etc.

Log in to your FACL Ontario membership account to find out more about FACL Ontario’s mentorship opportunities.  Not a member?  Please click here to join FACL Ontario.

FACL Mentorship Committee Members
 Maneesha Gupta
Maneesha Gupta is Chair of the FACL Mentorship Committee and a Commercial Intellectual Property and Technology lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.  She practices in all aspects of intellectual property law
with an emphasis on complex patent and trade-mark litigation.  Maneesha is an active member of the legal profession and regularly advocates for the advancement of women, diversity and inclusion and access to justice.  Maneesha completed her undergraduate degree at University of Toronto – Victoria University and is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School.  She judges various national advocacy competitions and has guest lectured at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Ted Rogers School of Management.
Peter Nguyen

Peter is General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Privacy Officer of Resolver Inc., a leading cloud-based, integrated risk management software company. As a member of the company’s executive team, he manages Resolver’s day to day global legal affairs by providing advice on corporate-commercial, M&A, employment, corporate finance, employment and privacy law. Prior to joining Resolver, he was Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of a TSX-listed travel technology company and he has also served as in-house legal counsel to a variety of early stage and mature companies in the technology industry. He currently also serves as an advisor to two technology start-up companies.  Peter started his career practicing corporate and technology law at Gowling WLG LLP and has also practiced at Dentons Canada LLP.

He is a frequent speaker on the topics of law department innovation, cybersecurity and risk management. Peter is the founder of the GC Forum a networking group for GTA-based General Counsel that facilitates informal informative dialogue between GCs themselves and between GCs and law firms.

He has been publicly recognized by his peers and has received a number of industry awards including:  named to Canadian Lawyer Magazine’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers (2019),  the International Law Office(ILO)/Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Global Counsel Award as Compliance Innovator of the Year (2019), a LEXPERT® ZENITH award as a Change Agent in Law (2019), a Finalist at the National Post/ZSA Canadian General Counsel Awards (CGCA) in the Innovation category (2019),  named to the Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Canada Teams (2019), “highly commended” by the Financial Times at the Innovative Lawyers Awards North America (2018), a Finalist at the National Post/ZSA CGCA in the Mid-Market Excellence category (2018), named to Legal Era Magazine’s World’s Leading General Counsels (2017), named to the inaugural Legal 500 GC Powerlist: Canada (2016) and received the ILO/ACC Global Counsel Award in the General Commercial category (2015).

Peter is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the State Bar of New York.  He is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto and has an undergraduate degree from McGill University.

Christy Tang
Justin P'ng

Justin P’ng is a Labour and Employment Associate at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, where he was previously a Labour and Employment Intern, Summer Student, and Articling Student. He graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School, where he received the Stringer LLP Essay Prize in Labour Law, the BLG Professional Excellence Award, and the Jack Walker QC Award for Excellence in Legal Ethics and Professionalism. As a competitive mooter in law school, Justin was winner of the Julius Alexander Isaac Diversity Moot. Prior to law school, he obtained an Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with High Distinction from the University of Toronto.

Justin served as a Student Director for the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL Ontario), where he contributed to community-building and equity-seeking initiatives in the legal profession. He also serves as Member-at-Large for the Ontario Bar Association Labour and Employment Law Section Executive (2019-20), and previously served as Student Member-At-Large and Technology Liaison (2018-19).

Devin Persaud
Devin Persaud is an associate at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. He practices in corporate/commercial, competition, and foreign investment law. Devin obtained his law degree from the University of Ottawa, where he was also a founding member of the University of Ottawa’s Business Law Clinic, and an executive of the Law Student Society. Devin also serves on the Board, and is an executive of the South Asian Bar Association of Toronto.

Prior to law school, Devin received a Bachelor of Business Administration with Distinction, from the Schulich School of Business at York University, and proceeded to work in the consumer packaged goods industry. Devin is an advocate for diversity in the profession, and was part of the OBA working group on advocating for changes to racialized licensees. In addition, he is a founding member of MY ROOTS (Malvern Youth Recognizing Our Opportunities To Succeed). Devin is a 2019 Lexpert Zenith award winner, recognizing Change Agents in Law.

Vivian Sy
Vivian is a 3L student at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Vivian has a strong interest in corporate law with a Financial Services, Technology and Capital Markets focus. She is currently a summer associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP and a summer student at McCarthy Tetrault LLP. During her 1L summer, Vivian worked at Wealthsimple Inc as a legal intern. Vivian is passionate about advancing diversity initiatives and has organized various events through FACL’s Mentorship and Community Outreach Committees.

Prior to law school, Vivian was a management consultant and auditor. She completed her Masters of Accounting and Bachelors of Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Waterloo. Vivian is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Mitchell Lui
Mitchell is entering his final year of law school at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Prior to law school, he received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley, where he double majored in English and Media Studies. He is currently a summer student at McCarthy Tétrault.

Mitchell has previously worked as an English tutor at UC Berkeley and an education consultant in Hong Kong, assisting students in sharpening their writing skills and guiding them through the university application process. Over the past year, he has provided research assistance to Provost Mayo Moran by examining redress schemes around the world that have been established to address historical injustices.

While in law school, Mitchell has served as a Senior Associate Editor on the Law Review and the Vice-President of the Asia Law Society. He is also a student director on the board of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers. This fall, Mitchell will be on exchange at the University of Amsterdam.

Vernon Lin
Vernon is a current summer student at Aird & Berlis LLP. Vernon will be entering his second year of law school at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Prior to law school, Vernon received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, where he studied History with a focus in Politics and Law. In between his years of study, Vernon spent summers working across the fields of law, consulting and education throughout the Greater China area. At a Shanghai-based consulting firm, Vernon managed due diligence projects for Western clients operating in China’s energy sector. In prior summers, Vernon worked at an international business law firm based in Taipei. In law school, Vernon is involved with the faculty’s Law Review as an Associate Editor and the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights as a student researcher. He is very passionate about youth outreach and has worked with several student mentorship programs abroad and in Canada, most recently with the Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS) program as a volunteer, providing after school tutoring and coaching a mock-trial. Vernon is passionate about traveling and enjoys drawing from his bicultural and bilingual (he’s fluent in Mandarin) background in all his professional and educational endeavors. In his spare time, he enjoys playing soccer, practicing hot yoga, exploring Toronto’s vibrant food scene and belting out his favourite tunes at karaoke
Crystal Liu
Crystal Liu is currently a Crown Counsel at the Local Health Integration Network Legal Services Branch. Her practice focuses primarily in home and community care, consent and capacity, guardianship law, and administrative and civil litigation. She summered and articled with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee in Toronto, where she developed a keen interest in elder law and legal advocacy. Prior to this, Crystal was employed as a Litigation Records Review Assistant with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and volunteered with a number of organizations, including the Ontario Human Rights Legal Support Centre and Pro Bono Ontario. 

Crystal completed her Honours undergraduate degree in Research Psychology at the University of Toronto and obtained her JD from Osgoode Hall Law School. During her time at Osgoode, she mentored with the Mentorship Program and acted as Vice President for the Asian Law Students Association (ALSA). She worked closely with other members of ALSA in organizing various events and facilitated the Public Sector Panel for the 2016 Asian Canadian Law Student Conference. 

Crystal speaks Mandarin fluently, and is able to read and write in Chinese. In her spare time, Crystal enjoys travelling, writing and yoga.

FAQs:

Q: I am a student, junior lawyer, or NCA candidate and I am looking for an articling or new position. Can FACL Ontario pair me with a mentor?

A: Please note that our current mentorship offerings for students and NCA candidates takes place in the form of our Mentor-A-Thon speed mentoring event in the first quarter of each year. FACL Ontario does not currently match mentees with mentors on a one-off basis.  

Q: How can FACL Ontario help me in my job search?

A: We know the market is tough, especially for students and junior calls. Here are our suggestions for those who are seeking new positions:

  • Check our jobs board for relevant postings (remember to sign in as a member first);
  • Network, network, network. FACL Ontario hosts many events over the course of the year with networking components. This is a great way to meet other practitioners in the area(s) in which you are looking. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media (links are at in the upper right hand corner of this page) to get up-to-date notices of our upcoming events, and come out!
  • Volunteer. This is, in our experience, the best way to make meaningful connections in the legal community. Remember that when someone puts your name forward for a position or acts as a reference for you, she or he is putting her reputation forward with that recommendation as well, and it is hard for someone to confidently do that without having had a meaningful opportunity to get to know you. When you volunteer at an organization, it gives people with whom you volunteer a chance to speak meaningfully about what you are like as a teammate if and when the time comes for that person to put your name forward for a position. Getting involved with an organization is also a great way to show initiative and community involvement on a CV!

Q: I have an idea for a mentorship program. Who do I talk to about getting involved?

A: We love when our members want to get more involved with the organization. Please contact mentorship@facl.ca.