Advisory Committee Bios
Michael Walker, Chair
Michael Walker graduated from the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law at Robson Hall in 1985. He articled with Legal Aid Manitoba and spent his entire career there, first practicing criminal law as a staff lawyer and later serving as an office Supervisor.
In 2004, he began volunteering with the University of Manitoba Community Law Centre (UMCLC), assisting with the supervision of law students. In 2015, he became the Clinic Director and a Practicing Professional at Robson Hall, where he taught the UMCLC externship, a third-year clinical course. He retired from Legal Aid Manitoba in 2020 and completed his final year as Clinic Director in 2024.
Michael has served on the boards of the Community Legal Education Association and McDonald Youth Services (now The Link). He currently volunteers with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), Canada’s largest land conservation charity, where he serves as Chair of the Manitoba Advisory Committee and as a member of the National Board of Directors.
Michael strongly believes in the importance of access to justice and in the vital role that Legal Aid Manitoba plays in ensuring that legal services are available to those who would otherwise be unable to afford them.
Gary Robinson
Gary Robinson graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 1991 with a BA. He graduated from Robson Hall law school at the University of Manitoba in 1996. He articled with Legal Aid Manitoba in Winnipeg and was called to the bar in 1997. Gary has practised mainly criminal law since then.
From 2001 to 2007, Gary was a staff attorney at the Thompson Community Law Centre, then transferred to the Winnipeg office. In 2011, he became the Supervising Attorney of the Criminal Duty Counsel office. In 2020 he became the Northern and Duty Counsel Area Director.
Gary is the President of the Legal Aid Lawyers Association since 2019.
Gary was first appointed a member of the LAM Advisory Committee for a period of two years effective September 17, 2019.
Neil Cohen
Neil Cohen is Executive Director of Community Unemployed Help Centre, a former lay bencher with the Law Society of Manitoba (2014-2020) and member of the executive (2018-2020). Neil has served on several Law Society committees since his initial appointment to the Discipline Committee in 2010. He previously represented the Law Society on the National Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family matters, served as co-chair of the Law Society’s Access to Justice Steering Committee and chaired its Access to Justice Stakeholders Committee.
Prior to becoming a lay bencher, Neil served as a part-time Commissioner with the Automobile Injury Compensation Appeal Commission from 2004 to 2014.
Neil’s board experience is extensive (former chair Mediation Services of Winnipeg, SEED Winnipeg, Community Financial Counselling Services, former Chair and Trustee of the Joe Zuken Memorial Association and Trust Fund, Manitoba Federation of Nonprofit Organizations, and a founding member and inaugural chair of the HR Council for the Voluntary Nonprofit sector).
Laurelle Harris
Laurelle Harris has academic training in Women’s Studies from the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. Ms. Harris has also undertaken graduate studies in Women’s Studies and Black Studies at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She earned her law degree in 2001 from the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba and is an experienced litigator with formal training in mediation, arbitration and conflict resolution undertaken locally and at York University in Toronto, Ontario.
For most of her career, Ms. Harris practiced law in a mid-sized firm in Winnipeg. In 2018, she founded Harris Law Solutions to pursue other professional interests including mediation, arbitration, and consulting on issues of equity and inclusion. Ms. Harris founded Equitable Solutions Consulting in 2020, she offers services which include evaluating organizations’ strengths and weaknesses in the areas of anti-racism, equity and inclusion, and helping organizations to meet their goals to be more equitable and inclusive.
Coming from a family of educators, Ms. Harris finds teaching to be a rewarding way to contribute to effecting change in our communities. Ms. Harris teaches and practices using an anti-racist, intersectional feminist analysis to better understand, dismantle, and counter structural oppressions. She has taught Women’s Studies at the undergraduate level and also at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law. Ms. Harris conducts educational workshops and speaks publicly in the areas of anti-racism, equity and inclusion.
Ms. Harris has served on local and national boards and committees; she has volunteered extensively in the area of community health. Within the legal community, Ms. Harris also serves as a director with the Manitoba Law Foundation and as a member of the Legal Aid Manitoba Advisory Committee. She also chairs the Manitoba Bar Association’s Equality Issues Section.
Genevieve Benoit
Genevieve Y. Benoit is a proud Métis woman with roots in St. Norbert – in the heart of the Homeland of the Red River Métis.
Genevieve was called to the Manitoba Bar in 2021 and currently works as an associate at MN Trachtenberg Law Corporation. She practices primarily in the areas of civil litigation, Aboriginal law, and Indigenous law.
Genevieve maintains close ties with her Community and has worked closely with the Manitoba Métis Government – the Manitoba Métis Federation – which has led to national and international work related to the Red River Métis, also known as the Manitoba Métis.
Before beginning her career in law, Genevieve was an advocate within the Indigenous law students’ community holding positions in the Manitoba Indigenous Law Students’ Association and the National Indigenous Law Students’ Association.
In her final year of law school, Genevieve attended Osgoode Hall’s Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources, and Governments and did a placement with the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation, focusing on their legal system structure and model.
Nicole Belanger
Nicole is a proud Metis woman who has joined the MMIWG2S movement for violence prevention against Indigenous women. In 2008, Nicole Belanger obtained her Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Manitoba and worked in the Manitoba child welfare system until 2012. In 2021, she received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Manitoba and is currently employed as a Social Worker within Shared Health.
From 2018 – 2021, Nicole served as a member of the Neecheewam Inc. board and was appointed the role of Vice-Chair in 2021. Nicole has served as a member of the Manitoba Legal Aid Advisory Committee since 2021
Ryan Amy
