Vanessa Mensink

Biography

Vanessa Mensink is an associate in the Civil Sexual Abuse/Assault group at Rochon Genova.

Vanessa is a compassionate advocate. She is dedicated to helping survivors navigate the civil court process and empowering them with information and options. She provides clients with thoughtful advice and approaches her work from a trauma-informed perspective.

Before joining Rochon Genova, Vanessa worked on a broad range of litigation matters including institutional sexual abuse, human rights matters, bankruptcies and insolvencies, commercial disputes and class actions (related to sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse). Vanessa has experience advocating for her clients before various administrative tribunals, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Vanessa received her Juris Doctor (JD) from the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia in 2017. She was called to the Bar in British Columbia in 2018 and called to the Bar in Ontario in 2022.

Prior to law school, Vanessa worked as a victim support worker for almost 6 years. She helped survivors of sexual violence, both adults and children, navigate the criminal court system. She provided survivors with information about the criminal court process and accompanied them to their court appearances. She also provided hospital accompaniment to support individuals who were attending the hospital for a sexual assault examination. This work was meaningful to Vanessa and led her to go to law school.