Alana DeGrave*

Contact Details

Alana DeGrave

Assistant: Nancy Valencia

She/Her

As a Partner at Woodward and Company, Alana provides strategic legal advice to Indigenous organizations on diverse legal matters including Aboriginal rights and title, regulatory matters, land management and development, economic development, governance, taxation, and fiscal management. Her practice focuses on supporting Indigenous clients in exercising self-determination, while addressing the systemic injustices that continue to affect their rights to their territories.

With more than a decade of experience at Woodward and Company, Alana has contributed to precedent-setting Aboriginal rights and title work, including the groundbreaking Tsilhqot’in Aboriginal Title case, and has helped guide the firm through complex periods of legal and organizational growth. Her results-oriented work ethic, sound judgment, and trustworthiness as legal counsel, colleague, mentor, and firm leader provide a strong basis for her characteristically high-quality work.

Alana served as Managing Partner from 2023 to 2026 and has held several other leadership roles within the firm, including Finance Partner, Lands and Governance Practice Group Leader, and Student Committee Member. As a partner, she views her role as providing strategic leadership, fostering collaborative and high-performing teams, and mentoring lawyers and staff to deliver exceptional results for clients efficiently and effectively. At the heart of Alana’s work is a commitment to advancing Indigenous self-determination. She is deeply motivated by supporting Indigenous clients in exercising their inherent rights, making decisions that reflect their priorities, and achieving their goals for their members, communities, and territories.

*Denotes a Law Corporation

Membership & Professional Affiliations

  • Member, Law Society of British Columbia (2005)
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association (2018 – present) 
  • Member, Law Society of Yukon (2020)

Practice Areas

  • Additions to Reserve
  • Employment and Human Rights
  • Housing
  • Indigenous Legal Orders and Law
  • Land Code
  • Land Interests
  • Strategic Reconciliation Planning
  • Taxation & Fiscal Management (FAL)

Selected Presentations & Publications

Presenter, First Nation and Municipal Relationships, Pacific Business & Law Institute (2022, 2023, & 2025) 

Presenter, Development on Reserve Lands, CBA(BC) Real Estate Subsection (2020) 

Presenter, First Nations Land Management Act, Aboriginal Land Resource Management Forum (2014) 

Various presentations to First Nations, Indigenous organizations and University of Victoria Faculty of law on employment law, restorative justice, family law, and wills and estates for Indigenous peoples (2007-2012) 

Humanitarian Award, University of Victoria (2004) 

MacIsaac & Company Prize in Community Law, University of Victoria (2004) 

Dean’s Honour List, University of Manitoba (1997-1999)