THE ADVOCATE 821
VOL. 79 PART 6 NOVEMBER 2021
contract with the Victoria Crown office and was hired on full-time shortly
after that. She has practised as Crown counsel ever since.
Clare has spent almost all her time in the Victoria Crown office on the
trial team and has established herself as one of the leading trial lawyers in
that office. She has prosecuted the full range of offences, including many
serious allegations, including several murders: see e.g. R. v. Barry, R. v. Ruffalo
#2, R. v. Belcourt #2 and R. v. Desroches. Most recently, she co-prosecuted
R. v. Berry, an exceptionally difficult and high-profile six-month murder trial.
Clare has been nominated for and received many awards for her work as
Crown counsel, including the 2021 Region 1 Recognition Award. In addition
to her work as a trial Crown, she is a frequent contributor in other ways: acting
as temporary Administrative Crown Counsel, assisting with bail matters,
completing serious and complex charge approvals, and taking the time
to help colleagues with legal issues and strategy. Clare has been a principal
to two articled students and focuses significant time and energy on mentoring
junior Crown counsel. She also bakes amazing cakes that must be seen
to be believed.
Clare tells me that her time in the Victoria Crown office and her ascent
as a trial lawyer has been assisted by many generous mentors. These
include Kimberly Henders Miller, who was her supervisor during her articling
rotation; Paula Donnachie; Carmen Rogers (now Rogers J. of the B.C.
Provincial Court); Tamara Hodge; Patrick Weir; and John Labossiere. Speaking
fondly of Patrick in particular, Clare told me, “That was more of a friendship
thing. I don’t think of Patrick as a mentor. Seriously, please don’t put
down Patrick as one of my mentors.”
CLARE: THE VOLUNTEER
Throughout the course of her legal career, Clare has been an active volunteer.
Her many activities have included serving on the Victoria Law Day
Committee for ten years, serving on the UVic Human Research Ethics
Board, serving on the board of the Atomic Vaudeville Theatre Society, serving
as a CBABC section chair and serving as a member of the CBA’s Access
to Justice and REAL advisory committees. In 2016, her many local contributions
were recognized when she received the Victoria Bar Association’s
Volunteer Award.
One of Clare’s most time-consuming and rewarding volunteer activities
has been as coach of the UVic MacIntyre moot team. I was her co-coach
there for many years, mainly playing the role of Ron MacLean to Clare’s
Don Cherry.
The MacIntyre is a trial moot and requires the participation of many volunteers
who serve as witnesses during the team’s practices over the course