Kellinde Wrightson

Dr. Kellinde Wrightson, PhD

Pronouns: she/her

Positions

Associate Professor

Faculty of Law

Executive Director

Faculty of Law, Foreign-Trained Lawyers Program

Contact information

Background

Credentials

BA Hons I University Medal, University of Sydney, Australia,

PhD (Arts), University of Sydney, Australia, 1995

LLB, University of Wollongong, Australia, 2006

Certificate of Accreditation (Canadian Law), National Committee on Accredition, Ottawa, 2018

Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, University of Wollongong, Australia, 2006

Called to Bar, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia, 2006

Called to Bar, Queen's Bench, Alberta, 2018

Biography

Kellinde is a Permanent Resident of Canada and an Australian award-winning scholar, lawyer and published novelist. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours and the University Gold Medal as well as a PhD in English Literature from the University of Sydney, Australia, and a Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Wollongong, Australia. Kellinde clerked at the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia, where she was appointed to the prestigious position of Researcher to the Chief Judge in the Equity Division. Kellinde has many years of experience as a university professor in Australia. She has published many articles in peer-reviewed international journals. She is the recipient of eighteen awards and accolades for excellence, including the Australian Bicentennial Award, Federation of University Women Award, Australian Research Council Post-doctoral Fellowship, British Library Centre for the Book Fellow, University of Sydney Fellow, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Writer Residency, and Guest Author at the Sydney Writers’ Festival.

Kellinde has lived and worked in Australia, England, France, Denmark, and Iceland before settling in Alberta. After completing the requalification process to practice law in Alberta, Kellinde was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 2018. Kellinde practiced mainly in civil litigation for four years in a mid-sized Calgary firm before taking up the three-year appointment as Director of the Foreign Trained Lawyers Program in the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary. Kellinde has a keen interest in helping those who are beginning the journey that she herself has taken.

Kellinde is Chair of the Faculty of Law's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and outside her roles at the University, she is a Director on the Board of Directors of the Legal Education Society of Alberta, and is currently writing a textbook for Emond Publishing entitled The Foreign Trained Lawyers' Guide to Canadian Legal Research and Writing.

Kellinde is an enthusiastic skier. She learnt to ski after moving to Canada on the advice of a Canadian friend who recommended it as a tool for managing the winters. Kellinde took that advice and fell in love with the sport and the country. She qualified as a ski instructor two seasons after learning to ski and currently working towards her Level 2 qualification.

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
Law420 Foundations of Canadian Law Fall 2021
Law430 Professional Development Fall 2021 Winter 2022

Projects

A Comparative Study of the Assessment and Accreditation of Foreign Trained Lawyers in Common Law Jurisdictions in an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Context

Working Title: "A Comparative Study of the Assessment and Accreditation of Foreign Trained Lawyers in Common Law Jurisdictions in an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Context"

Scope: Canada, the UK, Australia, USA

Aim: To foster discussion about the needs of both foreign trained lawyers and accreditation/licensing authorities. To gather raw data on the experiences of foreign trained lawyers in Canada. To undertake a comparative study between similar legal and cultural systems. To explore potential avenues for improvement to meet the needs of foreign trained lawyers and accreditation/licensing authorise. To examine issues of equity, diversity and inclusion with respect to the pathway of foreign trained lawyers in Canada from the beginning of the accreditation process to the first years of legal practice. To consider the whole of the project in the broader context of access of justice, and looking at issues of skill waste and nativism.

Outcomes: Publication of articles on the findings of the above research. Publication of a report of the same. Delivery of papers and talks at conferences, seminars and other relevant venues.

Expected Duration: 2021-2023

Awards

  • Guest Author, Sydney Writers' Festival. 2015
  • Writer in Residency, Banff Centre. 2013
  • Comparative Law Prize, University of Wollongong, Australia. 2004
  • Centre for the Book Fellow, British Library, London. 1998
  • Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow, Australian Research Council. 1996
  • Australian Research Council Research Award, Australian Research Council. 1997
  • Macquarie University Postdoctoral Fellow, Macquarie University, Australia. 1996
  • Sir Robert Menzies/Australian Bicentennial Prize, Australian Federal Government. 1995
  • University of Sydney Gold Medal, University of Sydney, Australia. 1991
  • Sir Walter Reid Memorial Prize for Top Grades in 2nd Year Undergraduate Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1991
  • Sir Walter Reid Memorial Prize for Top Grades in 2nd Year Undergraduate Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1995
  • Helen B. Devine Prize for Anglo-Saxon Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1998
  • University of Sydney Award for Postgraduate Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1991
  • University of Sydney Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1992
  • University of Sydney Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1993
  • University of Sydney Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1994
  • University of Sydney Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Studies, University of Sydney, Australia. 1995

Publications

  • Pronoun Choice and Feminist Language Change in Australian Media. Kellinde Wrightson and Anne Pauwels. Australian Journal of Communication. (2001)
  • Fourteenth-Century Icelandic Verse on the Virgin Mary. Kellinde Wrightson. Viking Society for Northern Research, University College, London, UK. 1-171. (2001)
  • The Notorious Frances Thwaites. The Adventurous Life of Frances Thwaites. Australia's Most Notorious Female Serial Killer. 1867-1894. Kellinde Wrightson. Brandl & Schlesinger. 1-596. (2014)
  • The Jilted Fiancee. Kellinde Wrightson. Parergon, Australian and New Zealand Association of Medieval Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1. 119-136. (1997)
  • Drapa af Mariugrat, The Joys and Sorrows of the Virgin and Christ, and the Dominican Rosary. Kellinde Wrightson. Saga Book, Viking Society for Northern Research, Vol. 24. 283-292. (1994)
  • The First English Translation of Drapa af Mariugrat. Kellinde Wrightson. Comitatus. A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Vol. 24, Issue 1. 79-90. (1993)
  • Review of "Deadly Waters. The Hidden World of Somalia's Pirates" by Jay Bahadur. Kellinde Wrightson. Journal of the Law Society of New South Wales, Vol. 50, No. 6. (2012)
  • Review of "The Old School" by P. M. Newton. Kellinde Wrightson. Journal of the Law Society of New South Wales, Vol. 49, No. 5. (2011)
  • Review of "Nothing to do with Justice. The Di Fingleton Story" by Diane Fingleton. Kellinde Wrightson. Journal of the Law Society of New South Wales, Vol. 49, No. 1. (2011)
  • Review of "Maverick Litigants. A History of Vexatious Litigants in Australia" by Simon Smith. Kellinde Wrightson. Journal of the Law Society of New South Wales, Vol. 48, No. 11. (2010)
  • Review of "The Last Gasp. The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber" by Scott Christianson. Kellinde Wrightson. Journal of Law Society of New South Wales, Vol. 48, No. 8. (2010)
  • Why Legal Flexibility is not a Threat to either the Common Law System of England/Australia or the Civil Law System of France in the Twenty-first Century. Kellinde Wrightson. Hanse Law Review, Vol. 1, No. 2. (2005)
  • The Laerthir Men of the Old Icelandic Marian Lament Drapa af Mariugrat. Kellinde Wrightson. Sagas and the Norwegian Experience. 685-692. (1997)
  • Marian Miracles in Old Icelandic Skaldic Poetry. Kellinde Wrightson. Treasures of the Elder Tongue. 87-99. (1995)
  • Changing Attitudes to Old Icelandic Marian Poetry. Kellinde Wrightson. Old Norse Studies in the New World. 138-153. (1994)
  • Reimagining the Past. The Notorious Frances Thwaites. Australia's Most Notorious Female Serial Killer. Kellinde Wrightson. University of Wollongong, Australia, Author Talk. (2014)
  • The Writing of Notorious Francies Thwaites. Kellinde Wrightson. Shoalhaven Library, New South Wales, Australia, Author Talk. (2014)
  • Dangerous Women. Why Women Kill. Panel Discussion. Kellinde Wrightson. Sydney Writers' Festival, Australia. (2015)
  • Author Q&A. Kellinde Wrightson on Baby Farmer Frances Thwaites. Kellinde Wrightson. Traces. Uncovering the Past. (2016)
  • Women Who Kill. Kellinde Wrightson interview by Natasha Mitchell. Life Matters, Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2015)

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