A mother and daughter are now sitting provincial court judges in northern B.C.
The milestone was reached in January when Cassandra Malfair was appointed to the post - slightly more than two years after her mother, Judith Doulis, was named to the bench.
Prior to becoming judges, both were Crown prosecutors at the Prince George courthouse.
According to a posting on the B.C. Provincial Court website, Doulis, the youngest of seven children who grew up on Lake Kathlynn near Smithers, worked in law-related jobs while raising her own children in Smithers and Telkwa.
She moved to Vancouver to work and attend university. While studying her passion - medieval history - in graduate school at University of British Columbia, she decided that law offered more career opportunities, and entered law school at UBC in 1994.
Two years later, Malfair began law school after earning a BA in political science from York University in Toronto.
She's had a life-long interest in law through her mother. In fact, her first job, at age 13, was photocopying in the Smithers law firm where her mother worked as a paralegal. When Doulis moved to a Vancouver law firm as a paralegal, Malfair worked in the mailroom after school. Then, during university, she worked part time at the Native Community Law Office Association where her mother was coordinator.
Their career paths continued to dovetail after they graduated from law school. From 2008 to 2014 Malfair worked as Crown counsel in Prince George. Her mother worked as a prosecutor of environmental offences in the same office.
In 2014 Doulis moved to Smithers as Administrative Crown counsel but returned to Prince George in 2015 as Deputy Regional Crown, her daughter's boss.
When Doulis was appointed to the bench in December 2015, Malfair competed for and won her mother's former position. She then served as Deputy Regional Crown Counsel in Prince George until her own appointment as a judge.
In addition to the work they've done together or in succession, Doulis practised family, criminal and human rights law and civil litigation in private practise and for the Community Legal Assistance Society in Vancouver. Before joining the B.C. criminal justice branch, Malfair worked on large scale commercial litigation for law firms in Vancouver and Calgary.
"I was quite young when my daughter was born and I didn't have set ideas about parenting. We developed similar interests, enjoyed the same activities, and became friends," Doulis said in the posting.
"We've often lived together when we're in the same city.
"We even discovered we had the same reaction when we received the telephone call announcing our appointments to the court - we both checked our cell phone logs to see if the call had really happened."
Their shared interests include cooking, music and various sports. Malfair is an avid and ambitious gardener, as well as an inventive carpenter. Doulis enjoys art.
Following Malfair's appointment, Doulis moved to Smithers where she is now a resident provincial court judge.
"We are both true northerners. We were born here, have chosen to live here, love our communities and share an understanding of the North and the people here," Malfair said. "We are both happy to serve the communities we care about and that made us who we are."
