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him, and this allowed Dannielle to balance the needs of her family with
what became her work family. With this balance, Dannielle was able to participate
in school field trips on occasion or pick up the boys from school
early, sometimes wearing what she referred to as her lawyer costume.
At Somers and Company, Dannielle practised in a wide variety of areas
focusing on vulnerable populations. This led her to practising in criminal
defence work with youth in care, parents needing assistance obtaining child
support and finally as counsel for the Director of Child, Family and Community
Service in child protection.
First as a junior to Gary and then on her own, Dannielle was called upon
to represent the Director on many complex cases and appeals at all levels
of court. Dannielle was known to be well versed in the intricacies of the
Child, Family and Community Service Act and the related case law, and was
decisive and practical in her application of the law to cases involving
alleged harm to children. Her court appearances were known for her characteristic
calm, understanding and compassionate demeanour. Dannielle
represented the Director throughout the Lower Mainland and, when called
upon, in communities such as Prince Rupert, Dawson Creek and Haida
Gwaii.
Her work at Somers Poulin Hall also included her mentoring many of the
young articling students and junior lawyers at the firm, particularly when
she became manager of the family department. One such young lawyer
credits Dannielle for being the reason she continued in the legal profession
instead of quitting in fear after receiving a particularly strongly worded letter
from senior counsel on a contentious file. As the story goes, Dannielle
assured the young lawyer that she was absolutely not fired, and she should
respond directly to the lawyer pointing out that the harsh words were
uncalled for and unnecessary. With that advice and support, the young
lawyer knew she was in the right profession.
Dannielle’s commitment to ensuring that the most vulnerable in society
would have access to justice was always apparent in the advice she gave her
clients, and to her many colleagues who often turned to her for her opinion
and guidance. Dannielle had an open door policy, which came in handy for
her colleagues when they needed the status of a file that she had worked on
clarified due to her brief, nonexistent or illegible notes. Dannielle’s brevity
also translated to her written responses. Lawyers with whom she has
worked with have reported that on many occasions, they have written
emails to her containing several paragraphs of information only to receive
the response back of “Yes” or “Sounds good”. Dannielle spoke fondly of the
lawyers and staff that she had the opportunity to work with for over 21
years.