Get to Know your Executive - Les Morley, Regional Coordinator

  • April 29, 2019

In our continuing efforts to introduce you to your OBA Executive, we wish to introduce you to Les Morley, Regional Coordinator. Read on to learn more about Les’ practice, his experiences, and his motivations for serving on the OBA Citizenship and Immigration Section Executive.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF.

I am the product of the marriage of a British immigrant and a third-generation Canadian. I grew up in Kingston, Ontario, after starting school in Providence, Rhode Island, where I was living on the memorable day JFK was killed  I went to university in Montreal and Kingston. I have been practicing law in Kingston since 1988.

I have been with my spouse since 1984. We have two adult children, both of whom live in Kingston.

I am active in many groups and organizations, as I suffer from a compulsive desire to commit myself to doing more than I am capable of doing. Currently I am:

  • The President of Kingston Employment and Youth Services organization (an employment and immigrant settlement services organization with over 70 employees);
  • The Treasurer of the Canadian Prison Law Association (of which I was formerly President);
  • A member of the Area Committee of the East Region of Legal Aid Ontario;
  • A member of the Prison Law Advisory Committee of Legal Aid Ontario;
  • The occasional host of a local cable television show about diversity in Kingston;
  • Lawyer Supervisor for two Pro Bono Students Canada groups and 12 students; and
  • Regional representative and subcommittee chair in the OBA’s Immigration & Citizenship Executive.

A particular passion in the past 14 years has been taking trips with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village Project, which organizes overseas group work for volunteers like me to assist in building houses for needy people overseas.  So far, I have been on trips to El Salvador, Argentina, Bolivia, Jordan, and Honduras, with a local trip to Yellowknife, NWT thrown in for good measure.  I can’t wait for the next one, destination still, as yet, undetermined.

Every now and again, between these sidelines, I get a chance to work on client files!