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permanent international criminal court was not
adopted until 1998.
Foreign adventure beckoned and Wanlin answered
the call. “I traveled to New Zealand and Australia for
a year and loved it. I came back, did my LSAT but
decided against applying to law and elected to work
in Japan teaching English.”
Wanlin’s next ports of call included China, Tibet, Nepal,
and Kenya. “By now law kind of fell to the backburner
because I didn’t really know where it was going to fit.”
A volunteer position in Kenya put her in contact with
local carvers who were turning out extraordinary
sculptures crafted from rosewood and ebony. “Their
work was absolutely phenomenal, but they couldn’t
sell anything because they were in the middle of
nowhere. It was that encounter that sparked the idea
for The Sedentary Nomad.”
The timing was perfect for the venture. Wanlin
returned to Winnipeg in 1999 to the summer
of the Pan Am Games and promptly sold her
entire inventory, an encouraging debut for the
budding entrepreneur.
What followed next was six years running the
business, traveling back and forth to Kenya
and Zimbabwe on buying trips, and finally
entering law school.
“I started in the fall of 2003 and did my first and
second years while running the business.” But even for
someone used to finessing multiple demands, Wanlin
found herself at a crossroads.
Through the course of her extensive travels, Wanlin
had come to discover that advocacy was her real
passion and that “in order to be a good advocate,
formal legal training was essential.” Things crystallized
from there and it wasn’t long after that Wanlin closed
the doors to The Sedentary Nomad.
Lori Ann Wanlin, Associate Legal Officer in the Appeals
Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Now with a singular focus, Wanlin completed her law
degree in 2007. Then began a series of opportunities
that were somewhat off the traditional beaten path,
but which proved ultimately beneficial to her progress
towards The Hague.
In 2006, she took a course on International
Humanitarian Law run by the International committee
of the Red Cross in Switzerland. The 10-day course
galvanized Wanlin’s desire to make international
law her focus and she began seeking out some
experience in the field.
A stint with Doctors Without Borders in Cote
d’Ivoire in West Africa followed, but ended earlier
than expected and Wanlin came back to Canada to
examine her options.
While awaiting a visa for Myanmar, her next mission
with Doctors Without Borders, opportunity came
knocking. University of Manitoba Law Instructor
Bruce MacFarlane, who had been hired by the ICTY
to investigate a possible contempt of court by the
former Spokesperson for the Tribunal’s Prosecutor,
needed the assistance of someone with legal
training who spoke French, had a current passport,
and who could travel on short notice. Wanlin fit the
bill and was soon on a flight to Paris to assist with
the confidential investigation.
45 ROBSON HALL ALUMNI REPORT