Vanessa Friesen began her own practice to ensure Manitobans have access to fair and sustainable legal services that meet their individual needs while accommodating new challenges to collective well-being, economic stability, and global changes.

With a focus on labour, employment, and landlord-tenant law, Vanessa’s dedication to her professional commitment reflects the zeal and experiences that guided her personal journey toward a legal profession.

A Winnipegger for most of her life, Vanessa obtained a music degree from Canadian Mennonite University directly out of high school. However, further aspirations led her to expand her goals by attending the University of Manitoba, Robson Hall Faculty of Law. Becoming a lawyer and protecting the rights of those facing legal challenges felt like the ideal fit for her drive for success and personal values.

During her law school years, Vanessa spent the summers tree-planting in northern BC and Alberta to fund her education. In addition to earning her way through law school, tree planting taught her to value the small things in life: warm, dry socks after working all day in the cold rain, wildflowers in the midst of a clear-cut's desolation, and the importance of friendship.

In law school, Vanessa volunteered for Legal Aid Manitoba, representing criminal defense clients and winning a trial in the Manitoba Provincial Court while still a law student. She served as an articling student in Vernon, BC, and was first called to the Bar in British Columbia. Her breadth of experience includes labour, employment, residential tenancy disputes, personal injury, corporate matters, debt collections, wills and estates, criminal defense, and litigation.

Vanessa has since returned to her prairie roots, transferring to the Manitoba Bar with the goal of working together with her fellow Manitobans to offer quality legal services that address the current global climate—in every sense of the phrase.

She also recognizes that Indigenous reconciliation is an important ongoing Canadian issue and is committed to assisting Indigenous peoples of Canada with professional legal representation.