From Calgary to Silicon Valley – and back: Career highlights from our VP of Legal & Corporate Services

July 24, 2026

For anyone who’s watched shows like L.A. Law or Matlock, it’s easy to see the appeal of pursuing a career in litigation. Interesting cases, high stakes, and the chance to make an impact. Brenda Leeds Binder pictured herself as a trial lawyer from an early age. But what she didn’t predict was how engineering, innovation and law would merge to take her from the courtroom to the boardroom and beyond.

Growing up in Calgary, Brenda was a booklover, reading all the Nancy Drew novels by the time she was nine. When it came time for post-secondary, her interest in math and science led her to pursue an undergrad in mechanical engineering at the University of Calgary. During her summers, she worked at Petro Canada’s Wildcat Hill Gas Plant, and Norcen Energy’s Drayton Valley field office. This would be Brenda’s first foray into the energy sector, an industry she’d return to later in her career.  Upon graduating from engineering, Brenda went straight to law school at the University of Alberta.

Early career

After graduating law school, Brenda worked as a clerk for a Justice of the Federal Court in Ottawa, in the trial division. This year would be formative, as it became clear many cases never make it to trial. So, while her dreams of being in the courtroom started to shift, the work helped sharpen her interest in intellectual property law, which would end up defining her career.

Upon returning to Calgary, Brenda articled with Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, while studying to pass the Alberta bar and later to become a Trademark Agent. She spent five years at BD&P, even co-founding an Intellectual Property practice group. However, patent agent work in Calgary at that time was limited, so Brenda and her husband decided to take a leap and relocate to Silicon Valley.

“I think it’s important to take risks in your career.  It was a risk to quit my job at BD&P – where I was on track to become a partner within a few years – and move to a new country in a practice area where I had no prior experience. However, it turned out to be a fantastic learning opportunity!”

Patent law in Silicon Valley

Brenda and her husband moved in the early 2000s, when the dot com boom was in its heyday. The valley was a hotbed for internet start-ups and technology companies, providing an opportunity for Brenda to deepen her patent practice. But first, it was back-to-books, completing an eight-week intensive California bar preparation course on the Stanford campus.

“It was a fun experience, being alongside recent Standford law school grads. It was lots of learning and lots of exams!”

After passing the California State Bar, she also earned her U.S. Patent Agent registration and was employed at a leading intellectual property firm, Fish & Richardson, working with clients like Google, Apple, Adobe and SAP. Her engineering degree proved critical to this, as a science background is required to practice patent law in the U.S. 

After five years of working in California, Brenda had her first child and decided it was time to return home to Calgary. Despite moving back to Canada, she stayed at Fish & Richardson for six more years, working remotely long before it became commonplace during the pandemic. The ability to work from home gave her the flexibility to continue her law practice while having more time at home with her growing family.

Protecting energy innovation

In 2011, ready to return to an office setting, Brenda ended up finding her way back to the energy sector, landing her dream job with Suncor as in-house patent counsel.

“One of my first files was helping to stand up COSIA which was particularly challenging, as 14 companies were effectively entering a giant IP cross-licensing agreement”

COSIA (now the innovation arm of Oil Sands Alliance), brought together competitors to work together to accelerate innovation. And Brenda’s job was to work with lawyers from all of the companies in and negotiating and drafting the foundational governing agreements to enable these companies to co-develop and share technologies while managing legal and competition law risk.

Leading the IP work at Suncor also provided a front-row seat to innovation in the organization.

“My team was constantly learning about the new technology being developed by Suncor’s researchers.  I had several opportunities for in-depth tours at our facilities – including going into the mine site and witnessing the massive trucks and shovels in action.”

In 2018, Brenda moved out of the legal function at Suncor and into the Regional Development function, where she was accountable for external technology development. This included being Suncor’s representative on the Shareholder Steering Committee and Board for COSIA.

“Leaving the legal function also felt like a career risk to me at the time.  However, the move helped broaden my knowledge of the business, develop new skills and experiences. And ultimately, led me back to a legal role.”

In late 2021, Brenda moved into the Sustainability group at Suncor leading an integrated team that created the organizational design and stand-up of Pathways Alliance (now Oil Sands Alliance). By the end of the next year, she was seconded from Suncor to Oil Sands Alliance as Vice President, Legal Services, later adding Corporate Services to her portfolio, which is the role she holds today.

Beyond work

For Brenda, leadership is a quality that extends well beyond her work in the office. In the aftermath of the 2013 flood in Calgary, Brenda helped start the Calgary River Communities Action Group (CRCAG ) when her home and neighbourhood were profoundly impacted by the disaster. The CRCAG’s mandate is to work collaboratively with all levels of government to advance flood protection along the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Over the next decade, she’d go on to serve as Director and co-president of the organization, which led to her receiving the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023. The biggest satisfaction though was touring the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir project that was completed by the province and operational for the 2025 flood season to mitigate flooding on the Elbow River.  Reflecting on hundreds of volunteer hours over more than a decade advocating for this project, which cost nearly $850M, Brenda credits CRCAG with reinforcing the importance of community leadership and standing up for what you believe in.  Just this past June, with the Elbow River dangerously rising, the Springbank Off-Stream Reservoir was used for the first time to avoid what could have been more catastrophic flooding in Calgary – a true validation of the worth of this project. 

In her personal life Brenda loves to host, whether at their cabin in Shuswap, or just around the dinner table, she loves bringing family and friends together. She’s also a self-proclaimed hockey mom, enjoying many hours at the rink with her three kids. Recently she also added team deejay to her list of roles, playing tunes to help amp up her kids’ teams on the ice.

Looking back, Brenda’s path is a reminder that careers aren’t always linear, and that the most meaningful growth often comes from taking calculated risks, staying curious, and saying yes to new challenges. From engineering to intellectual property, from Silicon Valley to Calgary, and from legal leadership to collaborative partnerships, Brenda’s story underscores what’s possible with hard work and follow through.