Hungry for more?! Subscribe to Notes from The Pathway Legal Pack for tasty morsels of wisdom!

pathway legal team family lawyers bc
Request Consultation >
Call 778-557-5099

Join the Pack

A BC family law firm doing this differently. We serve families across Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, and Surrey, and, well, province-wide.

The Pathway Promise

: Journey presiding over a boardroom of sunglasses-wearing dogs under a nameplate reading "The Cool Counsel.

Why Pathway exists

We built Pathway Legal because family law needed a reset.

Families in transition deserve real guidance, not to be gutted with billable hours while their matters don’t move forward properly. 

Families in BC deserve lawyers who protect the children, honour the couple (even though their relationship has not turned out as expected),  and who help everyone reach a final separation agreement without burning down the village (or the savings account).


We follow the P.A.T.H. framework for our clients every single day:

Practical. Action-oriented. Trustworthy. Heart-centred.

That is the work. If that makes your heart do a little jump, keep reading.

What Being Part of the Pathway Legal Pack Means for You 

Journey wearing gold aviator sunglasses with a confident smile, teal collar and paw tag visible against a warm cream background.

    What you get when you join the Pathway Legal Pack

    We could list the usual boring perks (yes, we have those too). Instead, here is what actually matters to us and might matter to you: 

  • If you are a lawyer, a busy, well-supported practice

You don't have to troll for clients by attending painful, endless lunches with potential referral sources, sitting on Bar Association committees you don’t enjoy, becoming a Rotary member, or sitting on boards (unless you genuinely enjoy these things, in which case we say go for it). We provide quality leads. The initial client consultations come to you. Our intake team handles the first touch. You focus on the legal work.

  • Real mentorship, every single day

If you are a lawyer, there are daily (yes daily!) mentorship meetings with other lawyers on the team. There is not sink-or-swim at Pathway. We have no interest in watching people drown.

If you are an assistant, you are supported and taught to care for our clients, step by step. 

  • Systems that actually work (no, really!)

Clio. Cloud-based everything. Clear protocols. Step-by-step case progression, so if you are stuck, you can get unstuck fast. If you have ever wished your old firm would just fix that one thing, we probably already fixed it. Or thought about fixing it.

  • Fair, transparent billing for our clients

Flat fees where possible. We do not play games with billable hours. Clients trust us because we are trustworthy and we want to keep it that way. 

  • A culture that is actively kind (not just on paper)

We screen out bullies, mean people, narrow-minded thinkers, and the unkind. Protecting our great team is not optional here. When we say we have your back, we mean it, and we have a few good stories to prove it.

Everyone on our team was honoured and supported. That includes the support team, the lawyers, and our four-leggeds.

  • Flex that actually respects your life.

If you are a lawyer, hybrid and remote across BC. Optional in-person in Victoria, Surrey, and Nanaimo. Extended health, dental, and vision. Flexible schedules for longer-term roles. Nobody is going to slide into your DMs at 9pm about a file. You deserve time to recharge, and so do your clients. 

  • Competitive, transparent earnings

We are at the high-end of the compensation spectrum. Also, it isn’t just the lawyers who get paid based on their collected billings. We have a pay structure that honours the support team’s work. Yes, you are paid yours salary, and you are paid for your performance based on real numbers that mean something. 

You Will Thrive Here If

You will thrive here if this sounds like you:

  • You are kind by default, and it shows in how you talk to clients and teammates (even the annoying ones)
  • You have a sense of humour. Family law work can be genuinely heavy. Lightness and some laughs helps. 
  • You follow systems and protocols and enjoy the calm that structure actually brings, even on chaotic days
  • You believe children come first, always, full stop
  • You prefer negotiated outcomes when the facts allow, and you are genuinely committed to getting there. 
  • You are open-minded, curious, and willing to collaborate 
  • You want to grow professionally and personally, and you are genuinely coachable 
  • You do not have to love dogs, but it helps enormously. Journey, Inu, Lady Maya, and Cricket are an important part of who we are.

This Is Not For You If

Walking with the Pathway Legal Pack is NOT for you if:

  • You resist structure, systems, and shared protocols because you have 'your own way'
  • You are a lawyer who assumes being a lawyer makes you smarter than your support team by default (spoiler: it does not, and they will figure that out faster than you think)
  • You advance positions that harm children, enable bullying, or stretch ethics 
  • You are narrow-minded, racist, sexist, homophobic, or carry any other low-vibration energy in a workplace where real families are supported and honoured
  • You want a job, not a craft, and you are not particularly interested in growing into either

Meet the Pack

Members of the Pathway Legal team sharing a warm group hug during a 2025 team photo shoot.

Humans in the Pack:

  • Val Hemminger. Founder and CEO.
  • Enoor Osubele. Associate Lawyer
  • Mark Gingerich. Associate Lawyer
  • Marissa Faulkner. Associate Lawyer
  • Guneet Kohli. Associate Lawyer
  • Sartaj Malhi. Associate Lawyer
  • Anu Singh. Associate Lawyer
  • Alfredo Franco. Associate Lawyer
  • Diana Illy. Paralegal and Client Team Relations
  • Celine Ilano. Executive Assistant to Val Hemminger and IT Design and Implementation
  • Daphne Jolley. Receptionist 
  • Jenna Schmidt. Financial Operations and Administrative Support
  • Julia Lamoureux. Legal Assistant

The Canine Leadership Team (they take this very seriously):

  • Journey. Firm Ambassador.  Symbol of all things Pathway. Loves everybody. Judges no one. Been through it. Has Ruff days. 
  • Inu. Chief Barking Officer. Val's dog. Has opinions. Shares them loudly and without apology. Transparently, for all of us she is a bit of a role model.
  • Lady Maya. Junior Pawssociate. Still technically in training. Already running the place. Nobody is entirely sure how this happened.
  • Cricket. The newest addition to the canine leadership team. Ruby finally got her dream dog. Cricket, as it turns out, is very clever and the sweetest (no truer words spoken by Ruby, Harvey, and their human parents).
  • Mustard. Full stop and no kidding. Mustard is by far the most photographed dog on the team. He takes modelling jobs Monday to Friday but does not work weekends, not ever.

From the Pack

What the Pack says about working here

"I started on reception, and I was really shy. Barely spoke up in my first few weeks. I stayed because I could feel myself getting better.

I never saw myself as someone who took initiative, but Val told me I should. I didn't trust myself at first. She kept pushing me to show the real me. Eventually the team started spotting things I was good at before I noticed them myself, and then actually gave me the room to run with it. Every time I put my hand up for something bigger, I was heard.

I never planned on a management role. I just kept growing, and Pathway kept making room for me. The shy girl at the front desk would not believe it."

Celine, IT Design and Implementation | Executive Assistant to Val

Roles We Hire For

Family Law Lawyer (contract, hybrid or remote across BC)

The fit:

  • A lawyer who wants a busy, well-supported practice without sacrificing balance or integrity. Someone who loves the craft, respects systems, and absolutely refuses to harm children in the name of winning.

Legal Assistants and paralegals:

The fit:

  • Someone who loves a tidy spreadsheet and a well-kept trust ledger. Someone who wants to help reshape how a law firm actually operates and would not mind doing it alongside four opinionated dogs. Detail-obsessed, calm under pressure, and yes, kind.

The Right-Fit List

If you read this page and something in you said "yes, these are my people," send us a short note to chiefbarkingofficer@pathwaylegal.ca. 

We keep a real right-fit list. We read every message. When a seat opens at Pathway, the list is the first place we look.

Tell us who you are, what kind of role you are imagining, and why Pathway feels right to you. Please include your DISC profile. (We use DISC as one of the ways we understand how each person works best. There are no wrong answers, except the ones that are clearly wrong. Take the free DISC profile at 123test.com)

How We Hire (When We Hire)

1. You send us your note and DISC profile

Tell us who you are, the kind of role you are imagining, and why Pathway feels right. Include your DISC results. (Free profile here: 123test.com/disc-personality-test.) DISC helps us understand how each person works best, and it is part of every application we read.


2. We chat.

A 20 to 30 minute video call with one of our trusty team members. No trick questions. No formal suit required. Inu may make a cameo. You have been warned.


3. We go deeper.

A working conversation, a short exercise, or a meeting with the broader team, depending on the role. No unpaid labour. No endurance tests. 


4. We decide together.

References, an offer, and a start date. We tell you yes or no within a week of the final round. Always. Because ghosting is rude and we are not rude.


5. Let the onboarding begin.

We do not stick you at a desk and say 'go figure it out.' We provide a real, detailed onboarding experience because we actually want you to succeed. Wild concept, we know.

FAQ

Questions people usually ask. Journey answers

Q: Do I need to live in Victoria, Surrey, or Nanaimo to apply?

For most lawyer roles, no. We serve clients across BC by video. Operations and admin roles tend to be more office-based in Victoria or Surrey. If you are not sure, ask us.


Q: What is your culture like, in one sentence?

Warm, professional, dog fur forward, a bit funny, and fiercely protective of our team and clients.


Q: What does Pathway believe about court?

Court is the last resort, not the first reflex. Our lawyers invest in ongoing training in mediation, collaborative law, and negotiation. We recommend clients bring their lawyers to mediation. This is not a tagline. It is an operating principle.


Q: Why do you want my DISC profile?

Because understanding how each person works best is part of building a team that actually works. DISC is one of several tools we use. There are no wrong answers, and we are not going to penalize you for being an introvert. Promise.


Q: How fast do you move when a role opens?

Fast. We respond to every note we receive. When a role opens, we close the loop within about four to six weeks. If you haven't heard from us in a while, follow up. We actually mean that.


Q: I don't see the role I am interested in. Should I still reach out?

Yes. Use the right-fit form. We check it often, we grow in unexpected directions, and the right person sometimes shows up before the right role does.


Q: Do the dogs actually have a say in hiring?

Do you want the official answer or the real one?

Journey the Jack Russell terrier sitting attentively in a teal collar with a paw tag, looking curious and alert.

If you have read this far and your gut said yes

That is usually the answer.

We are not always hiring, but timing is everything. Send us a short note and your DISC profile. We will read it with care, and we will keep you in mind for what comes next.

There is a BETTER  path.  Maybe it leads here.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Family law is fact-specific and the law changes. Reading this does not create a lawyer-client relationship with Pathway Legal. For advice about your situation, consult a qualified BC family law lawyer.