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Leena R. Yousefi
Leena R. Yousefi
CEO | Employment & Family Lawyer | Mediator - Vancouver
604-974-9529
[email protected]

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Leena (Ronak) Yousefi is a multi-award-winning employment & family lawyer, accredited mediator, and the CEO of YLaw, the largest female-led law firm in Canada.

She is the mother to a lovely toddler who is as strong-minded as her mom, and to twins (totally unexpected!) whom she considers the biggest challenges and achievements of her life.

In addition, she has been chosen as:

A week in her life was recently featured on BBC.

Precedent Setting Success

Leena has been the successful counsel on several ground breaking cases in British Columbia featured in media through both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal of BC. She has been successful on numerous precedent setting cases including those on child abduction, property division, spousal support, child custody, child alienation and child support in BC.

Provincial and Supreme Court Judges have commended Leena on her outstanding and clear representation in court, with one commenting on her submissions as “thorough and clear” and another, thanking her for her “professionalism”, “able submissions” and the way she conducted herself at acrimonious and tenacious trials.

Leena is the only lawyer in the history of British Columbia to have her law firm ranked in the Top 400 Fastest Growing Companies in Canada by the Globe and Mail 3 years in a row, and in the Top 500 Companies by the Canadian Business. Leena’s success both as a lawyer and a businesswoman has been comprehensively profiled through multiple prestigious and national publications, including the Canadian Business and the Globe and Mail. 

Approach

When Leena takes on a case, she gives a part of herself, her heart and her brain to it. She cannot and will not detach herself from the people she helps. That is the key to her success because you will always be her family, your happiness is her happiness and your sadness is her sadness.

Her intuition and honesty are the main ingredients to her uniqueness. She has the ability to present the human, vulnerable, and honest side of her clients, whether they are fighting back against Workplace Harassment & Discrimination or navigating the personal challenges of a family law trial. The side that will get the sympathy and approval of a judge. The side that shows the beauty in you, the challenges in you and the goals in you.

Leena and her work in employment and family law have been featured on: CBC News, Vancouver Sun, Canadian Lawyer Magazine, The National Post, Lawyers Daily Magazine, Child Abduction Recovery International , National Post, Canadian Bar Association and Business in Vancouver. 

Leena has represented her clients at the BC Court of Appeal, BC Supreme Court, and BC Provincial Court in a wide range of cases, from precedent-setting family matters to complex Employment Contract Disputes.

Leena’s Clients

Leena’s clients range from employers, employees, homemakers to professional athletes, celebrities, Fortune 500 and 100 CEOs, tech startup CEOs, disadvantaged men and women, ultra high net worth individuals, etc.

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Education
  • Bachelor of Arts with focus on Sociology with Distinction – University of Victoria;
  • Juris Doctor, University of Victoria;
  • Accredited Mediator through the Law Society of BC;

Leena sits on the following boards in the legal community:

  • Elected Member of the Provincial Council – Canadian Bar Association
  • Executive Board Member – North Shore CBA
  • Canadian Bar Association – Family Law Section;
  • The National Legal Aid Liaison Committee;

She is a member of:

  • Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
  • BC Chamber of Commerce
  • Trial Lawyers Association of the British Columbia.
Languages
  • English;
  • Farsi;
  • Spanish (conversational);
Achievements

Court Success

Successful counsel on BC Court of Appeal Cases including:

  • Storey v. Terry – precedent setting case for BC on unequal division of debts;
  • Zhu v. Liu – International precedent setting law on letters rogatory;

Successful counsel on numerous Supreme Court cases including:

  • Boylan v. Boylan – successful in obtaining 100% of family assets at trial + over $800,000 in compensation + costs;
  • Lee v. Chung –  precedent setting case on recognition of foreign marriage;
  • S.C. v. H.S. – precedent setting case on international child abduction featured in the media;
  • Adrangi v. Manesh – successful on division of business assets in addition to father’s parenting time rights;
  • J.V.V. v. D.H.L. – successful on getting sole custody for an abused mother;
  • A.L. v. K.H. – successful on obtaining conduct orders on parenting issues;
  • C.A.R. v. R.M.R – successful on getting 50/50 parenting time for father
  • Sijercic v. Kazic – successful on getting child support for an adult child
  • Ren v Emerson – successful on dismissing wife’s application for interim advance
  • Wright v Frederickson – successful on setting aside a 5 year old consent order and obtaining several hundreds of thousands of dollars in child and spousal support.
  • A.M. v M.S. – precedent setting case on the validity and enforcement of Mehrieh, and on enforcing oral agreements.

VICTORIES

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case Li v. Virk – 2023

Harry Saini was the successful counsel in the residential tenancy litigation case Li v. Virk at the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Story In December 2018, Ms. Li agreed to pay the Landlord of a Richmond property $2500 for monthly rent There was a problem with one of the rooms, so the Landlord and Ms. Li revised the tenancy…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case: L.C vs. E.S – 2017

Child Removal, International Custody, Parenting Time This was a case which made local, national and international headlines. It spans several countries and took more than 5 years to resolve. During those 5 years, the mother did not allow the father or her brother to see her. She kept on feeling around the world to make sure the father does not…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? S.C vs L.H – 2017

Groundbreaking case on Child Abduction, Wrongful Removal of Children and Wrongful Retention of Children. YLaw's latest BC Supreme Court Case has become one of the most important cases in the entire history of British Columbia on Child Abduction and Wrongful Removal. This case was reported on CBC, the Vancouver Sun, multiple child abduction websites, and later Leena was published with her story…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Ting vs. Wong – 2017

In yet another groundbreaking case in 2017, YLaw was able to obtain more than $116,000 in contempt fines in addition to special costs. This marks the highest family law contempt award in the history of British Columbia.  The Story - Contempt of Multiple Court Orders Ms. T's story was heartbreaking but beautiful at the end. She was left alone with her…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case: Storey v. Terry – BC Court of Appeal – 2020

Leena Yousefi and Abib Ngom were successful counsel in the precedent-setting case of Storey v. Terry.  In this case, the wife applied for an unequal division of family property, an unequal division of family debt. Her Appeal was unsuccessful. As per the Court of Appeal: The appellant appeals a summary trial order providing for the equal division of the parties’…

View All Victories
Case: Storey v. Terry – BC Court of Appeal – 2020
Personal life

Leena is known as the black sheep of law. Her rebellious and creative nature has pushed her to places she never imagined but has dealt with more challenges getting there than most others.

She is an old soul and a free spirit who cannot be tamed, that is why she continuously tries to fly without wings, and sometimes lands in higher places after sustaining a few ‘injuries’. Luckily she has beautiful children and a husband who continuously try to root her down and bring her back to earth.

Above all else, she just wants to help people – especially those who are in pain. She will fight tooth and nail if she sees injustice, and will always give more than she receives.

She is the co-author of the incredibly raw and sometimes heart-wrenching best selling book by Lexis Nexis – The Right Not to Be Silent. 

Leena has:

  • Been a sought after keynote speaker and presenter at numerous legal and non-legal organizations including various law societies, bar associations and universities;
  • Created the Best Lawyering Award for Law Students at UVic;
  • Created the Academic Excellence Award at UBC Law;
  • Mentored over 1000 students;
  • Mentored hundreds of junior lawyers;
  • Has been a panelist at numerous mooting competitions and law events;
  • Has been the keynote speaker for various schools and universities including McMaster’s University, Ryerson University, University of Victoria, and University of British Columbia;
  • Has been a presenter on multiple Globe and Mail events including Leadership through Emotional Intelligence events;
  • Has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to various charities;

Leena has been interviewed by several media outlets:

  • Her favourite Podcast interview can be found here.
  • Her favourite Youtube interview can be found here.
  • Her favourite website interview can be found here.

Get to Know Leena

  • Favourite hobby: Being immersed in nature
  • Favourite book: The Giving Tree
  • Biggest Pet-peeve: Fridays not Friday’s
  • Can’t live without: Wine
  • Favourite person: Our spiritual, ego-less selves
  • Biggest role model: Einstein
  • Favourite travel destination and why? Colombia – the people, culture, music, energy.
  • What makes you happy? Peace and harmony (ironic with my job, I know)

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