Edmonton’s newest Queen’s Bench Justice took her oath last week and she came all the way from Lacombe.
Justice Gaylene Kendell was announced as the replacement for department Justice Ritu Khullar in Edmonton back in April. Khullar was appointed to the Alberta Court of Appeal.
Kendell was previously a partner at Champan Riebeek LLP in Red Deer for nine years. On June 28, she was ceremonially sworn in to her new role in Red Deer.
She was born in Edmonton, but came to live in Lacombe in 2008. She graduated from the University of Alberta faculty of law in 1998 and was called to the Alberta bar in 1999.
She articled at Chapman Riebeek and remained there throughout her legal career, joining the partnership in 2009.
Her experience is largely in family law, something she credits to her childhood. Being in a family of eight children, she had to hone her negotiation and advocacy skills.
The focus on family law led to her joining the Association of Collaborative Lawyers of Central Alberta, where she served as secretary from 2008 to 2011.
Kendell lives in Lacombe and Edmonton and splits her time between the two communities.
Kendell also volunteers her time with several different organizations in Central Alberta. She was on the board of the Loaves and Fishes Benevolent Society and a volunteer lawyer from 2003 to 2008; she was a member of the Red Deer Regional Legal Aid Committee from 2006 to 2012, where she considered appeals of denials of coverage, and was a Legal Aid roster lawyer. In 2010, she received a Legal Aid certificate of recognition for her outstanding contribution. She spend many years as a volunteer lawyer with the Central Alberta Community Legal Clinic and most recently was on the boards of the Central Alberta Women’s Outreach Society and the Suicide Prevention Society of Red Deer.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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