Melissa Remulla-Briones joins growing list of Filipino lawyers when she will be called to the bar this coming December.(Facebook)

Updated:9:00 PM, September 12, 2018

British Columbia

Latest addition to the province’s growing list of Filipino lawyers

By Ted Alcuitas

Decades ago, British Columbia only had a handful of practicing Filipino lawyers – Arturo Alafriz, the late Fil Apolinario, Vicente Asuncion and of course the first woman lawyer – Jeanette M. Oostlander.

When  Melissa Remulla-Briones gets called  to the B.C. Bar this December, she will join a growing pool of Filipino lawyers in the province.  While most of them are in private practice, some are working for the government or companies.

Briones is a former lawyer in the Philippines and like any other foreign-educated professional, was not allowed to practice her profession.

She has to enrol in the  law society’s credentials course before she could take the bar exams, a requirement for foreign educated lawyers.  The alternative would have been to enrol in an accredited law school in the country, a costly and time consuming route. She is  articling  with Lonsdale Law in North Vancouver and will be called to the bar in ceremonies in December 2018.

 

She first worked as Editor-in-chief  for the Vancouver-based Philippine Canadian Inquirer before moving on to become Legal Officer and Human Resources manager for Organika Health Products.

She completed her Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines and worked as Legal and Corporate Counsel for ABS-CBN and TheNet Group Corporation in the Philippines before immigrating to Canada in 2012.

Briones is married to artist Danvic Briones. They have two children.

The future lawyer with husband Danvic. Behind is one of Danvic’s work.(Facebook)