Odette Dempsey-Caputo

BA (Victoria), JD (Saskatchewan)

Odette Dempsey-Caputo received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Victoria and her Juris Doctor from the University of Saskatchewan College of Law. She completed her articles in Victoria at British Columbia’s oldest law firm, focusing on civil litigation and administrative law. Odette then moved to Kamloops, where she spent the next ten years in private practice gaining extensive experience in personal injury defence, estates law, corporate law, and society litigation.

In 2017, Odette joined Thompson Rivers University’s Community Legal Clinic as a supervising lawyer - just one year after the Clinic opened its doors. Odette took a pioneering role in the evolving Clinic, making significant contributions to the mentorship and professional development of student clinicians, and creating resources and program materials for the Clinic. In 2019, Odette left the TRU Community Legal Clinic to establish the Kamloops & District Elizabeth Fry Society Legal Clinic and its satellite offices. She currently holds the role of Senior Clinic Lawyer. In this role, Odette provides legal services for low-income and marginalized clients, develops public legal education initiatives, and provides overall managerial functions for the Clinic.

Odette is an LL.M. candidate, currently studying through the University of Ottawa. Her Master’s work focuses on technology and access to justice for equity-seeking rural communities in B.C.’s interior. Odette is a member of the CBABC’s Access to Justice and Court User committees, a regular volunteer judge for TRU Law moot teams, and is a regular presenter at seminars and training events for both lawyers and the public.

Odette will be teaching Community Lawyering for TRU Law for the 2022-23 academic year.