20 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 80 PART 1 JANUARY 2022
ble. Some of the chosen dolls adorn the windowsill of her office at Hamilton
Fabbro.
“TECHIE PRINCESS” AND “LISICA”
Lisa separated from her husband in 2007. According to Lisa, going through
her own family issues has given her a better understanding of what her
clients experience.
In 2008, at the same time Lisa was founding Hamilton Fabbro, she met
Zoran. His first impression was not that Lisa was a lawyer, but that she must
be a “techie princess”. They shared a love of music and live concerts, and
quickly became inseparable.
During their first year together, Lisa and Zoran, with Lisa’s three sons and
Zoran’s two daughters Julia and Nina, travelled to Croatia to visit Zoran’s
family. Naturally, Lisa immediately won over Zoran’s parents, who came to
call her “Lisica”, the Croatian word for fox.
Zoran describes Lisa as a very honest person who always does what is
right, and who is a fun, responsible and giving person.
Throughout their 13 years together, Lisa and Zoran have experienced
great happiness, and significant sorrow, particularly when Zoran’s youngest
daughter Nina died in 2016. Lisa and Zoran were heartbroken and remain
grief-struck by the loss.
“BAGMAN PINKY”
Lisa decided to run for election as a bencher in 2015. Lisa believed she could
make a meaningful contribution to the profession by taking on the bencher
role. She began serving in 2016.
Newly elected benchers attend the last bencher meeting of the year as
observers before their term begins. It is another stressful “first day”. Predictably,
Lisa put the other new benchers at ease. She joked that they were
at the “kids’ table”. Lisa overshared about her imposter syndrome, and asked
the others if they planned to keep their paper nameplate to “prove” they
really were benchers. Lisa made the first day enjoyable for everyone.
From the outset, Lisa was an extremely active bencher and demonstrated
tremendous leadership. Early on, she was appointed chair of the Credentials
Committee. She has since chaired the Governance, Finance & Audit,
Discipline and Access to Justice Committees and been vice-chair of the
Equity & Diversity Committee.
Despite the gravity of the role, and how seriously she takes it, Lisa makes
being a bencher fun. After a long day of meetings, Steve McKoen, Q.C.,
introduced a group of tired and punchy benchers to the online Wu-Tang