A Coffee with Georgialee Lang!

Join us for a coffee with Georgialee Lang. A preeminent Arbitrator, Appellate Counsel, and Litigation Strategist, Georgialee is recognized as one of the top family lawyers in Canada. Her distinguished career includes arguing four times before the Supreme Court of Canada and contributing extensively to legal discourse as a widely published author.

A seasoned communicator, Georgialee has appeared as an expert guest on numerous radio and television programs. She brings a sharp, engaging perspective to every conversation, blending elite legal wisdom with real-world grit.

 When she wasn’t in the courtroom, Georgialee spent years embracing the open road, riding a Harley-Davidson alongside her husband. 

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Transcript

0:08

Jennifer? Cam, I am drinking a very lovely African Nectar tea this morning. Why are you drinking tea, seriously? It's not morning anymore, it's afternoon. Oh, well. Why are you drinking tea? I don't know, I'm trying to stay calm. Did you want a coffee? I know you, and actually we drink a lot of tea. We do. Yeah, we drink. Anyways, everybody, welcome to another edition of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. And we are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right. So if you hear a little bit of noise in the background, people talking, coffee machines whirring, it's because we're live in a coffee shop. And we're here at the Wall Coffee Shop. I like how you said that. What? The Wall Coffee Shop? The Wall Coffee Roaster. And I'd like to also say that it's a very sunny day here in Alberta because our listeners, we always tell you when it's snowing or stuff like that. Well, we are your weather forecasters, I feel. We are. We are the Alberta weather forecasters. We are Edmonton, the beautiful downtown Acheson forecasters. But it is a beautiful sunny day. It is. It's like a spring day, but it's a little cool outside. But there is a forecast of snow coming up. So anyways, let's not talk about that. Anyway, we also need to tell you that Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam is brought to you by Wing Snob, the best wings you are ever going to have. Cam, where the wings are fresh, never frozen with 16 different flavors, four different rubs, parmesan fries, cornbread, the best! The whole deal. And how many locations? Ten locations. Ten locations. New one in Grande Prairie, new one in Calgary. And if you have never been to Wing Snob, you gotta go to Wing Snob, because I'm not even kidding you, they are the best wings you are ever going to have. So check it out, www.wingsnob.ca. Find your location tonight. If you don't feel like cooking, you don't know what to get for the family, go to Wing Snob. I don't feel like cooking. Maybe I'll get Wing Snob. Are you going to Wing Snob? Maybe. Maybe, yeah. I know. It's a great Wing Snob. And we are also brought to you by Mprint. Our friends over at Mprint Sign and Print Solutions right here in Acheson for all of your printing needs. Cam, they are the preferred printer of Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. And they are amazing printers. Anything from business cards to books to pamphlets, they will even wrap your vehicle or your helicopter if you own one. Hey, we haven't talked about the helicopter in a while. I know. We haven't brought up the helicopter. But they'll wrap it. They will. If you have one, they'll wrap it. I was wondering if they would wrap like a rocket. But anyway, I don't know where they get it. We'll ask Jan. We'll ask Jan. Will you do a rocket? Because that'd be kind of cool. Anyway, Mprint, www.Mprint.ca. Best printers you're ever going to find. I'm very excited. You don't know how excited I am about today's show. I am so excited. You know, Cam, it's been a fantastic morning already because you and I moderated a fireside chat with none other than Teresa Spinelli who was amazing. Teresa Spinelli, the CEO, president of the Italian Centre. She owns the Italian Centre. And that's the best place in Edmonton for everything. And she brought you and I donuts, Italian Centre donuts, and unbelievable. And yeah, so that was a pretty good cool morning. But our guests today, I've known them for a very long time. I won't say how long, because then age starts getting into it and all that kind of stuff. Very long time. But they're amazing people. And I'm so, I've looked forward to this for so long. Listen, we've had them fly in. Fly in. Okay, maybe not for the podcast, but they're here. So they're doing the podcast. They were here for other things, yes. But they, yes, so they came for something else and agreed to be on our podcast. And I'm so excited. They flew in from Palm Springs, which is in, for those who don't know, California. Because there might be people, you're right. I think there's a Palm Springs, Florida. There is. So it's a good clarification. So go ahead, give her, yeah. Well, Cam, I have heard you talk about this woman so often, and I am absolutely honored that she agreed to be on this podcast. Our guest today is none other, and I'm going to have her give her title because it is very prestigious. Georgialee Lang. Georgialee. Welcome, Georgialee. Welcome, Georgialee. Thank you. Happy to be here. It's so good to have you here. I haven't seen you guys for so long. It's been a while. It's been exciting. What is your title? Do you have a title? Well, I'm an attorney and an arbitrator, and I have a law practice in Vancouver, BC. Vancouver. Okay. So I guess title lawyer who owns a law firm. Yes. Yeah. So that's pretty cool. And yeah, so that's cool. It is. Okay. Go at it. Let's take it back to the beginning. Yes. Georgialee, where were you born and where did you grow up? I was born in New Westminster. No. And was born and raised in New Westminster, and lived there until I was about, I don't know, 20 or so. Really? Yeah. I lived in New West. Did you? Yeah, twice. I really liked it. It was a great place. What address did you have there? Um, do you remember? No. But the first one was, the first one was right across from Queens Park. Oh, that's a nice location. That was a beautiful location. And the second one was next to the Safeway. The Safeway where downtown? Not the downtown Safeway, the other Safeway. Okay, on 6th Street. On 6th Street. I don't even know where I lived. She knows where I lived. Yeah. I really liked New West. Yes. To me, it was a small town feel. Yes. Right next to Vancouver. Right. And so, if you didn't want the hustle and bustle of Vancouver, you had New West. Well, I'm a creature of New West. In fact, I was selected Miss New Westminster. Come on. You were not. No. Or they like to call the city of New Westminster the Royal City. So Miss Royal City. That's right. Georgialee, was there a pageant? I need to know. Oh yes. Okay. Oh yeah. Were you the May Queen? No, I wasn't. I was a flower girl. You know, we danced the May Pole in New Westminster. See, only those who live in New West would know about the May Queen. That's true. My daughter was a princess or whatever you call it. She danced around that. Yeah. Okay. And then you were Miss New West. I was Miss New Westminster. That's right. Did you go to New West High? I did go to NWSS. NWSS? Yes. I know NWSS well. I think they tore it down now, did they? Yeah, that's right. They have. They have. That's right. Wow, this is like old home days. This is kind of exciting. Yeah, I had no idea that you had a connection to New Westminster. My favorite Greek restaurant was in New West on... Columbia Street? No, on Sixth. Well, there was a nice one on Columbia too. Yeah. But on Sixth, that other one on Sixth. Anyway, Sixth and Sixth. Yeah, anyway. Yeah. So, this is just like old home days. I know. Right? Cam's reminiscing. This is great. Georgialee, what did your parents do? Why New West? Okay. Well, my dad was born and raised in Port Moody. And he left school at about the age of 14 to work in the large cedar mill in Port Moody. And he met my mother, who was an immigrant from Amsterdam. And they got married and eventually had eight children. Eight? Eight. Eight siblings. Yes. Yes. Wow. And where do you fall in the sibling ring? I have two older brothers. And then I'm the oldest sister. There's four girls and four boys. Yeah. But eventually, my dad wanted to buy a home. Yeah. And for the princely sum of $11,000. Are you kidding me? He bought a home in New Westminster. Are you kidding me? On London Street. On London Street? I remember London Street. Yes. Listen, you're not getting home in BC now for that price.$11,000. You wouldn't even get a, I don't know, you'd get nothing. No. You can't even get a tent. No. That's right. You couldn't even get a tent in the middle of the street. That would cost you. Okay. So, wow, that's $11,000. But was it a big house, $11,000? Yeah. Because there was, that time when we moved in, there wouldn't have been eight of us, there was probably six kids then. Okay. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Big family. Yes. That's incredible. And did you like being in a big family? Was that a good thing? Was that a bad thing? Well, I wasn't able to ascertain whether it was good or bad. It was just the way it was. It was the way it was. Yeah, it was the way it was. Cool. Okay. So all through high school, then you're obviously a lawyer now. Is that what you wanted to do? Did you have a sense growing up that I'm going to be a lawyer? No. No, not at all. When I was quite young, I started taking singing lessons and I trained in opera and oratorio. And so that was a possibility. I also was very passionate about journalism. So I wrote, there was a newspaper in New Westminster. Called The Colombian. I wrote for that newspaper. I was editor of my high school newspaper. And in fact, I had a column in my high school newspaper called Barb Wire. Even then, I was willing to shake things up a bit. And so what was Barb Wire? Yes, what was it about? Barb Wire was critique of the school, the community, the teachers. So you were actually writing the columns critiquing the school and the teachers. And how did that go over? Well, it seemed to be fine. Nobody stopped me. She didn't fail. In fact, I graduated with a journalism scholarship and a voice scholarship. Okay, I just want to say for the record that I have heard Georgialee sing on many occasions. And it's very true. She has an amazing, amazing voice. And she would sing in church on Sundays. And it was incredible. And I would close my eyes and it was like an angel was singing and I was in heaven. You were amazing. You are amazing. Well, I was very blessed. When I was about 10 years old, our church organist heard me sing and said to my mother, I'd like to give Georgialee singing lessons. And my mom said, that's fine, but we can't afford that. So she taught me for 10 years at no cost. Really? And from there, I went to first year college and majored in vocal performance. Did you not go into professional singing? I don't know if that's the right word. Did you feel there was no career opportunities? Well, my teachers, my vocal teachers, said that they thought that I had a good chance of making a career in singing, but I would have to go to Europe, to one of the small community theaters or opera houses. And that wasn't in the cards for me because my family, you know, my dad worked in a lumber mill. My mom didn't work at all, and so our resources were very limited. Wow. Okay. So, journalism, that's pretty incredible. I still can't get over the fact you wrote a column criticizing. Did the teachers ever get mad at you? Did they ever pull you aside and say... No, well, I mean, of course, you know, there was an overseer, one of the journalism teachers. Teacher, sure. And, you know, he would have probably edited something if he thought it was inappropriate. But yeah, no, it was a fun column to write. Do you think you get away with that in this day and age? Well, you know, it really depends on the school... True enough. Yeah, yeah.... you know, compliment. Yeah. Okay. Fascinating. Yeah. So you went to journalism school? No, I went to Douglas College in New Westminster. And I started studying... they had just started a music department. And so I was studying music. Right, right. Okay. And how long did you graduate? I spent... no, I spent a year there. And it came in handy, though, because when I finally actually went to university, I had one-year credits from Douglas College, which were transferable, because then I went to Simon Fraser University. Oh, Simon Fraser, okay. And with those credits, I was able to do my undergraduate degree, my BA, in two years. Really? Yeah. So I went back to back, you know, semester, one semester after another, six semesters, and graduated with my degree. That's incredible. And then you had your undergrad degree, and then where did you go? Well, I applied to law school. At UBC? Yes, at UBC. That's right. Yeah. And happily enough, I was accepted. So I started going to law school. Really? Just like that? Yes. Wow. And you asked, you know, whether that was a goal. I'll tell you what, when I was in Simon Fraser, I went back to university when I was 30, and everybody in my class was 20. Yes. I was very lucky because I didn't look 30, so nobody knew that I was a mature student. But a lot of those young people were writing their LSAT and talking about law school. And I'd never even thought about it. Because, you know, my dad had a grade 8 education. My mother was educated in Europe, which is an enhanced education, but no university. You know, I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school. Right. Wow. I was the first person in my family to go to college. Wow. Yeah. So, yeah, so it wasn't in the cards. Right. So singing, journalism. Yes. And then all of a sudden law. Yes. Yeah. And why? Well, it was interesting. I thought when I got my degree at Simon Fraser that I would go into teaching. But there was a real problem in teaching there. They weren't hiring teachers. Teachers were getting laid off. Right. And I thought, well, that would be really silly to spend another year to get a teaching degree. So I applied to law school, not knowing that it would just come natural to me and that I would be very successful and loved what I was doing. So you had, was that another four years? Yeah, three years in UBC law school and then a year of articling. That was another four years. Did you article in Vancouver? Yeah, I was very lucky. I articled at a prestigious Vancouver firm, but they were mostly solicitors. And if you know, solicitors do draft contracts. Yes. They don't go to court a lot. And I already knew that I was going to be a trial lawyer. You wanted to be in court. Yeah, I wanted to be in court. Law and order. That's right. Law and order. Well, she wanted to be in court. I watch Law and Order every week. Perry Mason. My favorite. Yeah. Okay. So after I left that firm, my articling firm, because they weren't going to be able to give me what I needed as far as my goals. And then I got hired by an international blue chip law firm in Vancouver. And the reason I went there was because they had a family law department. I wanted to do family law. But by the time I got there, they had fired everybody in the family law department. Oh, dear. Is that a red flag? Is that an opportunity? It turned out to be a real opportunity because I was now working there. And within the first couple of months, I said to one of my mentors there, I said, you know, I'd really like to do family law. And I was working with a great lawyer who did wills and estates, which is probably the closest thing to family law. You're dealing with families. So I said to him, you know, I'm happy to work with you. I'm looking forward to it. But can I just on the side of my desk, see if I can start a family law practice for this firm? Really? And it was a bit of a no-brainer because they had, and by the way, this was a large firm then, but it was about 110 lawyers were at this firm. Okay. And I sent an email to everybody in the firm the next day and said, I'm Georgialee Lang. I'm going to start a family law practice. So if you've got clients that need those services, please let me know. I love that. This is what I love about Georgialee. I sent an email to everybody in the firm and said, here's what I'm doing. Yeah. I love that. And it was very successful, but I got very lucky. I made connections with the media. And so I was sort of a regular guest on television and radio. CKNW. Exactly. CKNW. Yeah. Rafe Mair. I can name all the hosts. Christy Clark. Bill Good. Yeah, Bill Good. I did all those shows. And then I did a lot of stuff on television as well. Because when there's any time there was a sort of a family law related event or issue, they would call me and I'd go down to the studio or they'd come to my office and they'd that we'd do interviews. You were the expert. Yes, exactly. So I'm just going to so I remember because I lived in Vancouver, this is where I got to know Doug and Georgialee. And I can remember driving along listening to CKNW and they'd be like, and after this commercial, it'll be Georgialee Lang. And I would get so excited. Really? I know her, I know her, I know her. Well, what's interesting is that after I'd done a lot of that, I got offered my own radio show. Did you? Really? Yeah. And I thought seriously about doing it. But it would eliminate me being able to go to court because they wanted me to do a morning show from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Did you say the station? Yeah, it was CKVU. CKVU? Yes. Yeah. And I connected with them because they then started, when they heard me on NW and other stations, they invited me to do their shows. And those shows were mostly political shows, which I really enjoyed. And so that was what they offered. And I turned that down because I wasn't going to do that. Okay. So when did you, now there must have come a point where you thought, okay, I'm working for this large firm. Yes. I'm doing a lot of family law. Right. But I think I can do this on my own. Yeah. Let me tell you what happened. Yeah. Tell us. So, you know, large firm, wealthy corporate clients. And what started happening, Cam and Jennifer, was that a senior partner would say, I have a very highly valued client coming in, their daughter's going through a divorce. Can you meet us in the boardroom and answer all her questions? So, I would do that. And then at the end of the interview, the senior partner would say, okay, and we'll refer you to somebody outside of the firm. Because the big blue chip firm didn't want family law. Because nobody wins in family law. You don't want to tick them off. And so, they wanted to maintain their corporate business. And so, I started noticing that while I was giving them all this advice, they were sending them outside the firm to hire a lawyer. So, at five years, I decided to open my own firm. And so, that was 32 years ago. Okay, so I want to hear a little more about this. But I want to tell people, before we go any further, that Georgialee is a very, in the country of Canada, a very distinguished lawyer. How many times have you argued before the Supreme Court of Canada? Four times. Four times. You stood there in front of all those guys and women in those robes. Yeah. What is... The red robes. I know. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes. Okay, I'm just making sure. What is amazing is that family law cases rarely go to the Supreme Court of Canada. So I did three family law cases, and one of the most interesting cases I did, I was asked by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada to represent them at a case that was in the Supreme Court of Canada where a professor from a law school in Toronto was challenging the law, and he was trying to overturn the law and make prostitution legal in Canada. Really? And the Evangelical Fellowship retained me to rebut that argument. Okay, can I just ask you, was it scary going before, like the first time you went before all those justice, was that scary? Were you scared? I'd be scared. I'd be scared. Yeah, no, I was excited. Really? And it really honed my skills as a lawyer, because there it's much more solemn. You just don't rattle off things quickly. You have to take your time, but you're limited. You get an hour to make your submissions. But I learned a lot from doing those cases. I would think very few lawyers in the scope of things, very few lawyers get to actually argue before the Supreme Court. Yeah, it's very rare. You know what was unique was that the week before I was arguing one of my first cases, I had been singing the O Canada and God Save The Queen at a gala event about a thousand lawyers and judges in Vancouver. And sitting ten feet away from me was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada because she was the guest speaker, Madame Justice McLachlin. And so I was standing right in front of her singing to her. And about four days later, I was standing in the... What a story. Did she say anything? She was lovely. My husband Doug came to Ottawa with me. And after I finished, he said, Gosh, they were smiling at you. They were so nice. So yeah, it was... So I always... That really set the tone for me in that court. Can I just say, if I was at that time a Supreme Court Justice, and I had already heard Georgialee sing, it would have been a slam dunk. She would have won, right? Just cause she's an amazing singer. You won. Okay, that's pretty cool. I think that's pretty cool. Yes. Because I... And again, I say that in all... It's rare. Yes, in all due respect. Yeah, thank you. Because again, not everybody gets to do that. It's very impressive. No, no. You know, it's like, yeah, so that's pretty cool. Okay, so you... Go ahead. Well, I wanna ask her a question because we've mentioned it and she's mentioned her husband, Doug. Yeah, Doug. Yes. Tell us, tell us a little bit about your husband, Doug. How did you meet Doug? Okay, well, before I went back to school, I was working in the restaurant business in Vancouver. And there was a lovely restaurant on Main Street called Puccini's. Puccini's, yes! And I was one of the only non-Italian girls that was hired there. Yeah, they were all Italian women that worked there. And the Vancouver Police Department, their headquarters, was about a block away from Puccini's. The street there, yeah. And the guys that owned the restaurant had a back room, and they would invite the police to come and have dinner there. And the way it worked is that they would flip double or nothings one time the police paid, one time the restaurant paid. And the girls would take turns waiting on this back table. So one day, one evening, it was my turn to wait on them. And most of the girls were very gaga over all the guys. Oh yeah, men in uniform. But I was a little standoffish. And Doug was there with his, my husband Doug Lang was there, and his sergeant was with him. There's about five police officers in uniform. And his sergeant looked at me and said, my friend would like to take you skiing. And I looked at the sergeant and I looked at Doug and I said, okay. So about four days later, we went night skiing at Grouse Mountain. Yeah. You and Doug. Me and Doug. And it was one of the best dates either of us had ever had. Wow. Yeah. And from there. Did you know at that moment, it would be, it was, did you know, did you, was this, this is going to be the guy? Or did your lawyer analytical mind kick in and you had to. Yeah. Well, of course, I wasn't a lawyer then. This is before, this is before. Yeah. So forget the lawyer analytical mind part. Exactly. He was just a hunk in uniform. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So yeah, that's how we met and, and dated and unfortunately our dating, we dated for about three months. And then I left the restaurant business and got hired as a flight attendant and I was transferred to Toronto. What? Okay. A flight attendant! And in those days, yeah. In those days, there was no text or email. Yeah. Yeah. So we wrote long letters to each other. Really? Yes. Okay. I'm just going to be honest here. I know Doug. He's a great guy. I love Doug. He's awesome. Doug's about seven foot fourteen. He's so big. He's tall. And I just, I don't know why. I just, I think that's interesting. He's Doug. I'm not, I don't, don't tell us what was in the letters, but I mean. No. Was he a romantic at heart? Was he? Oh, yeah. Really? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Oh, this is good. I can hardly wait to see him. This is really good. Yeah. But he's such a nice guy. But yeah, okay. So you were writing letters. Yeah. And then unfortunately we split up. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Who did the splitting? He did. Serious? What? I'll have a word with him. Yeah. And I was absolutely devastated. Yeah. And so we split up and I eventually left the airlines. It was Ward Air, by the way. Ward Air? Yeah. Okay. Ward Air from Alberta. Yeah. Who got bought out by CP Air. That's right. Yeah. It was Ward Air. And yeah. And so that- Did you stay in Toronto? No. What happened was as soon as I got to Toronto, I was desperate to get back to the West Coast. And I lobbied religiously to get back here. And lo and behold, they said, sure, we'll give you a West Coast base. You're going to Edmonton. Not quite the West Coast. Vancouver, Edmonton. It was the middle of winter. And I decided I wasn't going to live in Edmonton. So what I did was I got an apartment on Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, and I commuted to my flights. Pacific Western was the small airline. And of course, as a flight attendant, we could fly for free on any airline. And I would commute to Edmonton. And then I didn't have a place here. Sometimes I had to come in the night before. And I would stay at the YWCA downtown Edmonton. Yep. Seriously. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so I was a flight attendant for about a year and a half. Yeah. Yeah. Toronto and Edmonton. Yeah. And then Ward Air shut down? No. No. You just decided time to move on? Yeah. Well, there was more to it. I actually got fired. Oh. I don't mean to laugh. But what did you do, Georgialee? Well, what I did was when I filled out the application form to be a Ward Air flight attendant, there was a question, said, do you have a criminal record? And I knew that if I told the truth, because I did, that I wouldn't get the job. So I wrote no on the application form and I got hired right away. Somebody obviously figured out who I was and told Ward Air in Toronto. And they fired you. And they fired me, yeah. Did you know the criminal record piece? I didn't. Again. Your face right now. Because I've known them for such a long time. And like I said to Georgialee, I've never really heard her whole story. So, okay. So, all right. So do you even know where to go with this? I don't know where to go. This is why this is normally I don't know where to go. Yeah. Okay. You got fired. You're living in Vancouver. Yes, I was living in Vancouver. Yeah. And but okay, because here's where my brain's going. Okay. You became a lawyer, but you had a criminal record. Are you allowed to do that? Well, that was another hoop that I had to go through. Right. So I, as I mentioned, I went to Simon Fraser. Yeah. And everybody was applying to law school and I thought, looks good, sounds good. I'll do that too. And I remember I was in third year law when I saw the documents that I would have to fill out for the Law Society. And I went to one of my professors who I thought would be encouraging and comforting. Yeah. He looked at me and said, how could you ever think you could be a lawyer? Really? Yeah. Yeah. That's what he said to me. That kind of person, yeah. Yeah. And actually, he became a judge. What was really interesting is that because he was so dismissive, I appeared in front of him a couple of times. And one day I got a call from my aunt in New Zealand. My aunt in New Zealand was also a lawyer. And there was a big conference in New Zealand, and she sent me a letter very excitedly that she had met and she named this law professor who had become a judge. He was one of the guest speakers. And he couldn't brag enough about me to her. Funny how the tables turned. After, yeah, now I practice law for 15 or 20 years. And so my aunt called me and she said, boy, you sure made an impression on this judge. So he was the one that said, no, you can't do this. So what happened was I had to go before the Law Society, and I had to give them references. I had to explain the whole thing. And they did a hearing. The hearing took less than five minutes. I walked into this room at the Law Society building. There were three lawyers there. I wish I knew who they were, but I don't remember. And they asked me one question and made one comment. The question was, what was the question? The question was, how old are you? And I was 35. I said, 35. And the comment was, oh, you don't look 35. And then it was over. And I was- That was it. That was the whole thing. Did you walk out going, well, that didn't go well? No, I walked out thinking- That was great. That was well, for them to just ask one question. And then compliment me on my youthfulness. That's bonus. So how long did it take for them to decide? Not long. And it's funny, my husband was in his corvette sitting outside the law society building praying for me the whole time I was there. His red vet? Yeah. No, he had a silver vet. Oh, silver vet. I only remember the red vet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, yeah, I went out and I said, this is what they did. And so within a week, they said, yeah, yeah, you're gonna be a lawyer. Wow. So I want to take a step back, something very important. How did you, you split up with Doug? Yes. Doug split up with you. Yes. No, he split up with her. That's what I said. Doug split up with her. Yes, I know, yeah. So how did you get back together? Yeah, important. Well, unfortunately- He realized the error in his ways? Well, something like that. Unfortunately, we were then not together for three years. But I didn't know this, but he was kind of keeping tabs on me. You know, as a police detective. He wasn't doing surveillance on you, was he, Georgialee? No, no, no. But he was making inquiries. Black car sitting outside your house every day. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, anyway. So he was sort of making subtle inquiries. And unfortunately, in the three years that we were not together, I got married. Okay. And that was a disaster. Okay. And we separated within 12 months. Okay. And from there, I was living with my first husband in Maple Ridge. Right. And I immediately moved to Vancouver. And it was after I got divorced that I felt my life really crashing. You know, I'd lost my job. I was fired from Ward Air. I had no job. I had no money. I had virtually no education except a year of classical vocal training. Right. Not something you can actually walk in and make a good living. Yeah. But I sort of kept my chin up, but I started going, I went back to church. I'd gone to church as a kid. So I went back to church at about the age of 30. So this was five years before we split up. And I went to law school. And let me just get my train of thoughts here. Yes. So I had a very identifiable little red British sports car. It was a Triumph Spitfire. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I started skiing and I was driving down West Broadway. And of course, I didn't have a ski rack, so I just put them out the window. That's awesome. And like I said, Doug knew that car because I had that car when we were dating. And all of a sudden I got pulled over. And it was Doug Lang. It was Doug Lang. Yeah. And it was about two weeks before my 30th birthday. And the day of my birthday, he sent me two dozen red roses. And then we were back together. See, he knew. Yeah, we were back together. No, he knew, right? He knew he made a mistake. He knew he made a mistake. That's right. Yes. Three years, he had to live with that. That's right. Okay. Well, let me tell you why he broke up with me. Because one of his fellow police officers showed him my mugshot. Oh, your record. Come on. I kid you not. That's low. Yeah. That's really low. It is. Showed him my mugshot, and of course, he was a junior. He was a young police officer at the time. He was freaked out. Yes, of course. Yeah. He was freaked out. But he got over that. Well, it took him three years. Yeah. He should have talked to somebody about it. Maybe he should have gone for help. I don't know. Three years. Okay. He got over it. Yes. All right. And then you got together. Yeah. We got back together. Yeah. You got married. That's right. You went to law school. That's right. You became an awesome lawyer. You have your own law firm. Yes. We should read your bio, because you've written articles. You do everything. Yeah. And I'm going to dare to say, and I'm not asking you to agree or disagree with this statement. I believe it to be true from what I've read and heard. You would be considered one of the top family law lawyers in the country, without a doubt. Well, yes, I'm humbled by that, but I've been told that, and I've been ranked in that position. And you obviously worked very hard at this. Yeah, because what I didn't know was that I would absolutely love practicing law. I had no idea. And I was just voracious in reading every case, in just doing, I enjoyed it. Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, again, I know some of the story, and it's absolutely incredible. And yeah, you are sought after. Even though you live in the winter down south, Yes, and in Kelowna in the summer, Yeah, what's interesting... You still work in Vancouver. I do. And what's interesting is when my colleagues, my legal colleagues learned that I was now going to spend six months in the desert, they thought I was retiring. Right. But I was just commuting. Yeah, just commuting. I like that. Yeah. Commuting from Palm Springs. Yeah. We're just commuting from Palm Springs. Yeah. And so I did spend a lot of time going back and forth on WestJet to get to Vancouver and my office was across from the courthouse. We still had a home in West Vancouver, but I didn't even stay at the house. I would stay at the Wedgewood or the Sutton Place Hotel. Because that was right across from the law court. And right across from my office, yeah. So at its peak, how many lawyers did you have working with you? Five. Five, yeah. And all family law? Yes, that's right. And of course, other paralegals and legal assistance. And so there'd be about 10 or 12 employees. Yeah. It's incredible. I know. It really is. I know. I'm in awe of her. I am too. I always have been. It's amazing. There was a time, I understand how I say this, and I'll clarify it. So I was a little afraid of Georgialee because she was very confident. Yeah. She listened. I'm not afraid in the sense that I had reason to be. Oh boy, I don't want to break the lock. And word on the street is she drives Harleys. They did! Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So Doug started out in the police department on the motorcycle team, right? He was a motor cop. Yeah. And he was in the drill team and he was the split bike. Oh, yeah. They go crazy down the road and he goes down the middle. Yeah. That was Doug. Okay. So, and he used to go to Sturgis, you know, Sturgis, South Dakota. South Dakota. Yeah. I went to Sturgis with him. And of course, I was riding on the back of his bike then. And I saw all kinds of women riding their own Harleys. Yeah. So when I came back to Vancouver, I got a Harley. I took the lessons out of Boundary Bay and got a Harley-Davidson. Started with a small one and then got a 1200 Sportster. I remember that Sportster. Screamin Eagle. I remember that. Screamin Eagle. You had your side bags on it. That's right. That's right. Yeah. White, right? Yes. Yes, it was a white. Yeah, it was white and sort of a bluey-gray. Because I remember one day you pulled up in that. Okay. You and Doug. Yeah. And I was in awe. First of all, I've always wanted a Harley. This is my dream. I've always wanted a Harley. Oh, really? But the fact that you were driving a Sportster. Yeah. And I just thought, I want one. Yeah. She has one. I want one. Yeah. So eventually, when we started going down to the desert, we had two motorcycles down there and two motorcycles at Predator Ridge. Wait, so she's a Harley-driving lawyer. Did you ever drive the Harley to court? This is what I want to know. No, I didn't. No, I would have been great. That wouldn't that have been? That would have been. They should have been a TV show about you. Well, you know what? The only reason I didn't was that my law office was right across from the courthouse. Could walk home. Yeah. But that's it. I think this morning I recommended to someone they should write a book. I'm recommending you do a TV show called The Harley Lawyer. This would be a fun call. Oh yeah. That is great. Okay. All right. So we got to get going here. So this is wonderful. You are so accomplished. You have written so many articles. You have worked with, and again, I'm not asking who, but you have worked with some very high profile clients. That's right. And you're very well respected. You're not retired. You're living in the desert. You're living in Kelowna. Yes. Have you slowed down? Yeah, I'm a little choosier. I pick and choose my clients. You know, I don't have a caseload like I did when I was going full tilt. You know, at one time, when I left that blue chip law firm, I took a hundred clients with me and they were happy for me to take them because they never really wanted to do family law. Remember? Yeah. And I stayed there five years. And so when I told them that I really needed a new challenge, they were gracious and wonderful. In fact, they sort of made me their go-to for family law. So I kept doing a lot of work for them. And just to give the firm a plug was Borden Ladner Gervais. Okay. Yeah. A multinational firm and just wonderful people to work with. And I learned so much from being there. You know, I know that law firm, actually. Not because I needed a law firm. I had a friend who worked in IT at the time. Okay. And he sold blackberries. Blackberries came out. And he tried to get that law firm, because that's who bought blackberries first. Yes, at the time. Was lawyers. Right, that's right. Because they thought they were the best. Yeah, they were cool. Anyway, okay. All right. Okay, so this is cool. So you're not retired. You still have your law practice. Yes. You're living in the desert. You're living in Kelowna. She's living her best life, Cam. You are living your best life. Yes, yes. And on top of all of that, you're an amazing singer. And on top of all of that, you're an amazing person. Oh, thank you. Thanks so much, Cam. You really are, Georgialee. I know. She really is. And we've run out of time. Yeah. And I know we could probably do part one, two, three, five, nine of this podcast. Yes. We have one final question for Georgialee, though. We do have one final question. That's where I'm heading. Yeah. Yes. But I'd just like to say, maybe we could start a law podcast. Not that we know anything, but we could just have Georgialee. Yeah, not ask. Don't ask us for advice. No, don't ask. We should talk about Harleys and law. Anyway. Yeah. But we've always asked one final question. Georgialee, what is the best piece of advice you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day? Well, it came from my husband. And when I was running my law firm and had full complement of staff, I was always very focused. So I'd get into the office, I'd go straight into my office, and I'd work and come out when I was finished working. And Doug said to me, you have to walk the ship. You can't isolate yourself in your office. You have to connect with your employees. Because in the beginning, I didn't do that much. I was just so focused on getting the work done and getting on with it. And so he said to me, you have to walk the ship. You have to go into everybody's office, greet them, say good morning. And so that was great advice on how to manage people. And run a law firm. Amazing. Great advice. Kind of ties in with some of what we heard this morning. And why I did, absolutely. At our event this morning with Teresa Spinelli. Yeah. Because she talked about that relationship with your employees. Right. How key that is. Yes. And I would imagine some of the lawyers who worked with you were younger. Oh, yes. To you as a mentor. Oh, they all were. Yeah, I hired junior lawyers. Yeah. And I mean, good for Doug, but good for you, because it would have probably been easy to say, no, this is the way I am, this is what I do. But you took that. No, I understood that. And I realized, you know, obviously there was turnover of staff over the years. And when I looked back on my original staff, I realized that I didn't know how many kids they had. I didn't know what their husband did. Right, right. And so I changed all that. And much for the better. Wow, fantastic. Yeah. Well, like I say, we could do part one, two, three, four, nine of this. But, Georgialee, you are. We're going to, I'm going to let the cat out of the bag. We're going to do, Doug's coming on the podcast. That's right, yes. So we're going to talk to him. Give him the gears about three years. Breaking up with you. Yes, yes. Anyways, you are an amazing person. Thank you very much. You're an amazing person of faith. You're an amazing person in your career. And you're just an all around amazing person. And I know one thing for sure. I know this because I would imagine as a family law lawyer, you see a lot of heartbreak. Oh, yes. A lot of pain. Yes. And you're not just somebody, I think, who just closes the book and walks on. No. You care. Yes, I do. You do. You care about people. I do. And I think that's what makes you so amazing. Yeah. Thank you, Cam. No, thank you. This has been just an absolute honor, Georgialee. Oh, thanks, Jennifer. I gotta say, this is one of my favorite podcasts, I gotta say, because you're my friend. And I love you guys to death. So thanks for doing this. Well, thank you. So thanks, everybody. Check out Wing Snob tonight for supper. Check out Wing Snob, yeah, www.wingsnob.ca. Take all your printing needs over to Mprint if you need them. And oh, by the way, make sure you tell somebody about the podcast. Tell your neighbor, tell your friend, tell your coworker, tell your enemies. And if you don't have a friend, make a friend just so you can tell them about the podcast. And don't forget to subscribe so that you won't miss an episode. That's right, it'll pop up right on your phone there. And then you'll go, yeah, Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam, I want to do it. This is great. So thanks everybody. And we'll see you next time. Thanks everyone. See you next week.