She/Her
Originally from Saskatchewan, Justice Michele Hollins obtained her B.Sc. from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas in 1987 and then her LL.B. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1992. After clerking to the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench, she worked at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Calgary, Alberta until 2001, when she joined the firm of Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP. She became a partner there in 2004 and received her Queen’s Counsel designation in 2008.
Prior to her appointment in 2017, Justice Hollins had a varied civil and commercial litigation practice, with a focus on employment law. She appeared before all levels of Alberta Courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. Michele was involved in the Canadian Bar Association for many years, including serving as the National President in 2014 to 2015. She received the Louis St. Laurent Award for service to the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) in 2010 and the Women in Law Leadership Award in 2013. In 2019, she received the CBA Wellness Award for Excellence in recognition of her work to advance mental health in the profession by sharing her own experience with others.
Since her appointment to the Court of King’s Bench, she has continued to speak and write on issues of mental health in the legal profession and has taught or participated in many substantive legal education conferences, including social media, judgment writing, advocacy and civil and criminal procedure. She was a contributing author to the book, The Right Not to Remain Silent: The Truth About Mental Health in The Legal Profession, 2024 LexisNexis (all sales proceeds to the CAMH).
Michele has adult twin daughters who flew the nest many years ago to make their own nests in Chicago and Los Angeles respectively. There are also a number of baby birds now, so they all visit each others’ nests regularly!