The Government of British Columbia has appointed a new Supreme Court of B.C. master to ensure the judiciary has the resources needed to continue providing access to justice.

The appointment of Jennifer Keim, who will take her seat in Kamloops, is effective Aug. 1, 2019. Keim received a bachelor of laws from the University of Alberta in 1995 and was called to the B.C. bar in 1996. She joined the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) in 2013, and in 2014 was appointed general counsel, director of legal services and information management and corporate secretary. Keim has provided legal services on a wide range of business initiatives, legislative analysis and corporate governance. Prior to joining BCLC, she worked for more than 16 years in private practice focused primarily on family law. Keim has appeared regularly in both the Supreme Court and provincial court and has been a certified family law mediator since 1999.

Quick Facts:

• Fifteen Supreme Court masters sit at Supreme Court locations throughout the province and are resident in Vancouver, Victoria, New Westminster, Kamloops, Kelowna and Nanaimo.
• Presiding in civil chambers and registrar hearings, a master makes decisions about pre-trial motions and procedural orders.
• How a master is appointed:
  • Lawyers submit applications, which are reviewed by an ad hoc committee made up of B.C.’s deputy attorney general, a justice of the Supreme Court of B.C., a representative of the Law Society of British Columbia and a representative of the Canadian Bar Association’s B.C. branch.
  • Following consultation with the chief justice, the attorney general makes a recommendation to cabinet, which makes appointments through an order-in-council.

Learn More:

Read about the B.C. Supreme Court: https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/