Lawyers Weekly, March 28, 2003 By Reporter Gary Oakes Victoria    It really was a David and Goliath battle, a "catastrophically" disabled young woman against all the might - and money - of the government of B.C.    And while God may not have been on her side, Vancouver family lawyer Kathleen Walker was certain the facts of the case were.    Besides, how formidable an opponent can a government be to someone who winds down by climbing mountains and studying military strategy?    Still, Walker admits it was a very stressful time for everyone when she and her client, Monique Roy Fink, had to wait six weeks before learning that her "David" had, if not exactly slain, at least brought the giant, the provincial government, to its knees.    "It was like in her life she finally got a break, the first one she's ever had," Kathleen Walker said of the decision, which ordered the government to return $80,000 it had drained from Monique's trust fund and to pay her interest and costs.    "It was the highlight of my career," Walker says of the case that has almost completely enveloped her for 2 1/2 years.    "It had everything in it," she said, including 16-hour days.  "It was very draining and very emotional."    It also cost her some cash customers who couldn't wait for her to finish helping Monique.    But in Kathleen Walker's view it was all worth it, because in the end, justice was done and the "good guy" won.    The 47-year-old single mother of two readily admits the endings aren't always happily ever after, but Kathleen Walker firmly believes people are given fair hearings in Canadian courts, even if they don't always agree with the results.    "It's a privilege to be a Vancouver family lawyer," she says proudly.    Kathleen Walker comes from a long line of lawyers and judges and her great-great grandfather was a law partner of Sir John A. Macdonald.    But before she was called to the Bar a decade ago, she took a detour down the road to work in the fields of psychology and counselling, backgrounds she feels ideally help her in her role as a family law lawyer, now in her fifth year as a sole practitioner.    Kathleen Walker is quick to praise two other Vancouver lawyers, James Carphin and John Kleefeld, who helped her immensely in the Fink case and for no charge.    "They knew what we were up against," she said, adding that the government fought her every inch of the way, fearing that if it lost, it could be fighting many such battles in the future.    As Justice Deborah Satanove explained in her reasons, "This case raises the interesting issue of whether ... the Public Trustee ... should have deducted funds from the estate of a severely handicapped child in order to reimburse the Superintendent of Family and Child Services ... for her maintenance as a child in care."    The B.C. Supreme Court judge concluded that while the Public Trustee, now the Public Guardian and Trustee, had acted lawfully, the Superintendent's staff should have obtained an exemption so the funds would have been left in trust fund.    Kathleen Walker speaks in awe of her 21-year-old client, who was not expected to live when she was born with numerous defects, including the absence of a tongue.    Incredibly, and against all expectations, Walker says, "she somehow taught herself to speak."    Added Justice Satanove, "She testified on her own behalf and appeared in every way to be a sensible, pleasant and normal young lady, who spoke more clearly than some other witnesses who have graced my courtroom."    The judge also remarked that Monique and her adoptive mother, Eleanor Fink, "are credits to the human race and shining examples of the fortitude and compassion of the human spirit."    Monique "required a tracheostomy to breathe and a gastrostomy to receive nourishment [and] to this day, [she] has never taken a meal by mouth," Justice Satanove remarked.    Walker recalls that after a discovery session one day, a lawyer for the other side offered Monique a cookie. "I was dumfounded," she said.    Her philosophy is to try not to cry over your losses and refrain from gloating over your wins. "Be professional.  Do your job and move on."    Kathleen Walker entered the University of B.C.'s law school in 1988, the first year the majority of students there were women.    She says the school "was very sensitive to my situation as a single parent.  It was just like a family, very nurturing.  I always felt they were looking out for me."    On the first day, the dean warned the class that the law can be a harsh mistress.    "Boy, is that ever true," Walker says today, adding that it's also been a very satisfying experience and one she wouldn't have missed for the world.   The Lawyers Weekly March 28, 2003

"Thanks for saving my butt" - Client who we assisted in buying out his wife's interest in their company