Quartet of new Brandon lawyers called to the bar

Dozens of family members, friends, lawyers and court staff filled the gallery to celebrate four articling students who were called to the bar in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench on Friday.

Ruban Satkunan, who received his law degree from Robson Hall at the University of Manitoba, said he is excited to have a career that allows him to help others in the community.

Satkunan spent the first 14 years of his life in Sri Lanka and fled the country with his family during a civil war.

“Our house was bombed. We left, and we escaped, literally for our lives,” he said.

Satkunan’s family moved to Toronto, where he graduated from high school and worked some odd jobs. He said he didn’t think he could go to university since he wasn’t fluent in English.

However, when he was in his 30s, he moved to Manitoba and completed his first degree in social science.

He then completed a master of human rights at the University of Manitoba.

Part of his practicum was to work at a law firm in Winnipeg, and while he said he was initially intimidated by lawyers, after working with them for a short time, he decided he wanted to be one.

In the span of two weeks, Satkunan said he studied for and wrote his Law School Admission Test, which he passed on his first try, and began his law school journey.

He said he articled at Patersons LLP before moving to Hunt Miller & Co LLP to get into criminal law, where he will primarily practise as a criminal defence lawyer going forward, along with several other areas of law.

Looking back at his childhood, which he said was marked with trauma, he hopes that through his career he can help others who may be disadvantaged or underprivileged.

Easton Lacey articled with the Crown attorneys office in Brandon for a year and has now secured a permanent position.

She was born and raised in Brandon but studied English literature at the University of British Columbia before returning to Manitoba, where she received her law degree at Robson Hall at U of M.

“I kind of always knew that I wanted to be back in Brandon, so I’m really happy to be back in Brandon and working here,” Lacey said.

She has always been interested in criminal law, and her time articling with the Crown attorneys office has been a good experience, she said.

“Everyone is so supportive, which has just been the biggest help when navigating a new career … That’s been the biggest blessing,” she said.

Lyric Stewart, who received his degree from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said his father used to tell him he thought he could be a lawyer, but it wasn’t until he took a law class in Grade 12 that it became clear it was the right career for him.

While he’s from Kelowna, B.C., and received an undergraduate degree in political science there, his wife is from Manitoba, which is what brought him to Brandon.

Stewart articled at Treo Law LLP, where he will continue to practise, focusing mostly on family law.

“I wasn’t sure if that’s what I want to do, but I actually really like it. You get to work closely with people, which I like, and I like working with families,” he said.

He said it’s an honour to be called to the bar in Manitoba.

Oluyinka Idowu said even though this is her second time being called to the bar, as she was previously a lawyer in Nigeria, she had butterflies in her stomach during the ceremony, and it felt “unreal.”

Idowu said she was always interested in the profession and believed it was applicable to various areas of society and community. She felt she “needed to be a part of that profession.”

When she moved to Brandon in 2023, she wanted to continue her career as a lawyer.

She reached out to the National Council of Accreditation and sent in her resumé. Idowu said she then needed to complete six exams over a period of five years.

She completed them in three months.

“I knew it was what I wanted, so I put all the strength I had into it,” she said.

Idowu proceeded to pass her bar exam and articled at Meighen Haddad LLP for one year, where she got experience in several areas of law, including real estate and family law.

She praised Meighen Haddad and said she is grateful for the support she received from her colleagues there.

Going forward, she will be working as a general solicitor at Treo Law and do “a bit of everything that comes my way,” she said.

Justice Elliot Leven, in concluding the ceremony, welcomed the new lawyers and said there is nothing more enjoyable for a judge than to preside over such a ceremony.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com