By the time Stacey Handley was nine, she knew she wanted to be a lawyer.
Her father brought her to a number of political events as a child and she noticed that many there were in the profession. “I thought that was interesting and got involved in debate and Reach for the Top-type competitions from a fairly early age.”
Graduating high school a year early, Handley managed to get into law school at 19 and began practising at 23.
Sixteen years later, she’s now a partner at Lang Michener LLP’s Vancouver office, leader of the firm’s western division real estate and banking practice group and the youngest member of the firm’s national committee.
Since Handley started leading the real estate and banking practice in 2005, the firm has consistently grown for most of the past four years. She can list Great Canadian Gaming Corp., Ledcor Group and West Fraser Timber as a few of her key commercial real estate clients.
Over the years, she’s volunteered in the legal community, having been involved in with the Vancouver Bar Association, the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of BC. Recently, she helped organize charitable events for Kids Help Phone and she mentors law students and associates.
Much of what she tries to instil in the next generation of lawyers comes from her own mentor who taught her that you could have a result in favour of one’s client without needing to be disrespectful or overly aggressive. “He was a true gentlemen lawyer. He taught me a lot.”
A new mother with a seven-month-old son, Handley feels fortunate to have both an established career and a family. The key to balance for her is time management. “I leave at a certain time to go home and spend time with my son, bathe him and read to him before he goes to bed. If I need to do more work, I do that after he’s gone to bed.” •
