Aleem Bharmal, KC

Aleem Bharmal, KC, Burnaby: Aleem Bharmal is a human rights lawyer with the Community Legal Assistance Society (and was its former Executive Director for 12 years from late 2007 to 2019). Mr. Bharmal has practiced human right law for over 20 years at CLAS, a not-for-profit legal organization advancing dignity, equality and justice in BC since 1971. Mr. Bharmal has been a presenter on human rights, social justice, access to justice, and legal ethics issues. He served as the President of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC) for the 2022-23 term and has chaired or been on the executive of a number of CBABC Sections and Committees, including the Social Justice and Human Rights Sections, the Policy; Advocacy and Finance Committees, among others. Mr. Bharmal is also a CBABC law student mentor with the UBC Allard School of Law, his alma mater. In the summer of 2016, Mr. Bharmal was awarded the CBABC President's Medal in recognition of his significant contributions to the legal profession. In 2017 he was elected to the CBABC Provincial Council and then onto the CBABC Executive in 2018. In 2019, he was appointed Queen's Counsel by the Attorney General of BC in recognition of his major contributions to the law in BC. In 2020, Mr. Bharmal was acclaimed Second Vice-President of the CBABC, a ladder position, and has just completed his term as President. Mr. Bharmal was elected as a Bencher of the Law Society of BC for Vancouver District in 2024.