ALBERTA

• McCarthy Tétrault has announced the addition of three lawyers to its labour & employment group in Calgary: partners Shana Wolch and Will Cascadden, and associate Dylan Snowdon. 
• Shourie Bhatia LLP of Edmonton announces they have added two lawyers to the firm. Jack Hauptman practices in the areas of family law, collaborative family law, and mediation. Randy Hobbs practices in the areas of estate litigation and estate planning.
• Norton Rose Canada LLP has admitted nine of its lawyers into the partnership. Ryan Keays and Allison Kuntz from the Calgary office are now partners.

• Borden Ladner Gervais LLP has a new associate at their Calgary office. Jakub Ksiazek, previously at Bennett Jones, will be focusing on commercial litigation.

• Osler has announced, as of March 1, 2013, six new partners practising in various areas across their offices in Toronto, Calgary, and New York were admitted to the partnership. Ted Thiessen, taxation, joins the Calgary office.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

• Harris & Company LLP has announce that Colin Edstrom has joined the firm.

Colin joins us from the Vancouver office of a large international law firm where he worked in the labour, employment and human rights group. 
• The following individuals have recently joined the Vancouver office of Dentons. Helen Park joins Dentons as an associate in the firm’s business immigration group. Prior to joining Dentons, Helen practiced at Ackah Business Immigration Law. Emily Yuen joins the securities and business law practice groups at Dentons as an associate. Emily previously practiced at Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, where she also articled.
• The Supreme Court of British Columbia announces that the Honourable Mr. Justice Richard M. L. Blair retired from the Supreme Court at Kamloops on April 30, 2013.  

• Bull Housser announced Kirsten Jenkins has come back to the firm.
• Robin Dhir has joined the Vancouver office of Fasken Martineau as strategic advisor. A seasoned sales, marketing, and communications executive, Robin will work with the firm's lawyers to develop and enhance business relationships across various industries and communities. He is also president of Twin Brook Developments Ltd.

MANITOBA

• Benchmark Litigation Canada has named the following nine TDS lawyers as “local litigation stars” or “future stars”: Bob Adkins, Jim Edmond, Adrian Frost, A. Blair Graham, Q.C., Robin Kersey, Keith LaBossiere, Gord McKinnon, Rob Olson, Kenneth Maclean, and E. William Olson, Q.C. Benchmark also listed TDS as a “highly recommended” firm for their litigation practice group in Manitoba. This is the highest rating possible. 

• Pitblado Law has announced that Benjamin Hecht has assumed the role of managing partner of the firm effective March 16, 2013.

• The Honourable William J. Burnett, Associate Chief Justice of Her Majesty’s Court of Queen’s Bench for Manitoba, is appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal, to replace Mr. Justice Richard L. Chartier, who was appointed Chief Justice of Manitoba. The Honourable Herbert Rempel, a judge with the Family Division of Her Majesty’s Court of Queen’s Bench for Manitoba, is appointed a Judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench, to replace the Honourable Justice D. Cameron, who was appointed to the Manitoba Court of Appeal on November 2, 2012.

• Attorney General Andrew Swan announced the appointment of Donovan Dvorak to the bench of the provincial court in Manitoba.

• The Manitoba Bar Association has announced Allison Fenske of TDS Law as the 2012/2013 recipient of the Pro Bono Award.

NEW BRUNSWICK

• Five associates are joining the partnership of Cox & Palmer: Trisha Gallant-LeBlanc, Stephen J. Hill, Paul J. White, Isabelle C. Moreau, Michael A. Gillis.

• Moncton-based George L. Cooper has been elected New Brunswick managing partner at Cox & Palmer. Josh J.B. McElman also joins the firm's provincial management team as Saint John managing partner, while John D. Townsend, QC was re-elected managing partner of the Fredericton office. John D. Laidlaw, QC was elected chairman of the New Brunswick partnership, and Gregory Machum continues in the role of chief operating officer, his 10th year in the job.

• Clarence Bennett is the newest partner at the Fredericton office of Stewart McKelvey. Bennett is a registered trade-mark agent and also belongs to the firm's labour and employment group, focussing on workplace human rights, workers' compensation and occupational health and safety.

• Jacques J. Gauthier, lawyer in Memramcook, N.B., since 1977, has moved his practice to Dieppe, N.B.

• Aaron Savage has been appointed a partner at Cox & Palmer in Fredericton.

• Michael B. Murphy has joined Cox & Palmer in Moncton as a partner. The former minister of health, minister of justice and consumer affairs, attorney general, and government house leader is practising in the areas of litigation and mediation.

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

• Cox & Palmer is pleased to announce that Darren D. O’Keefe has joined their St. John’s team. Darren practices primarily in the areas of corporate and commercial law, construction law, residential and commercial real estate and banking and finance.

• Cox & Palmer’s St. John’s office has welcomed L. Paul Newhook as its chief operating officer. In his new role, Newhook is a member of the executive committee and oversees all non-legal functions of the firm. In addition, he leads ongoing best practice strategies for superior client service and business growth.

• Rosalie McGrath, a lawyer with Ottenheimer Baker in St. John’s, is appointed a judge of the trial division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, to replace Justice J.D. Cook, who elected to become a supernumerary judge.

• Beth A. Sheppard and Darren D. O'Keefe have been appointed to the board of directors at Benson Myles PLC.

• Benson Myles PLC Inc. has welcomed Andrew Collins and Jude Hall to the firm as associates.

• Lisa Daly and Christopher Peddigrew have been appointed partners at Cox & Palmer in St. John's.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

• Karan M. Shaner has been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories (Yellowknife), replacing Justice D.M. Cooper, who resigned as of March 3, 2011. Shaner joined the province's ministry of justice in 1996 and was most recently its assistant deputy minister.

• Associate Malinda A. Kellett has joined Lawson Lundell’s corporate and commercial group.

• Gerald Stang and the Peterson Stang corporate department will be joining the Field Law offices in Yellowknife in August.

NOVA SCOTIA

• The Honourable Pamela S. Williams has been appointed Chief Judge of the Nova Scotia Provincial and Family Courts. She is the first woman to be appointed as Chief Judge of the two Courts. The outgoing Chief Judge of the Provincial and Family Courts, the Honourable Patrick Curran, decided to step down as Chief when his most recent term ended on January 31st of this year. Judge Curran had been Chief of the Provincial Court since 2003 and Chief of the Provincial and Family Courts since 2011. Judge Curran will continue sitting as a full time Judge.

• The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society’s Governance and Nominating Committee has announced its unanimous nomination of Sydney legal aid lawyer Jill Perry for Second Vice-President for the 2013/2014 council year.

• 14 Nova Scotia lawyers have recently received Queen’s Counsel designations: Malcolm Boyle, Charles Broderick, Maj.-Gen, Blaise Cathcart, Colin J. Clarke, Frank E. DeMont, Christene H. Hirschfeld, Kenzie MacKinnon, LeeAnne MacLeod-Archer, Noella Martin, Cameron S. McKinnon, Heather McNeill, Nancy Rubin, Ann Smith, and Raymond F. Wagner.

• BOYNECLARKE LLP welcomes Tim Hill and Meghan Russell who bring to the firm a focus on civil and business litigation and bankruptcy and insolvency. Hill received his education in law at Dalhousie University, where he has taught the Bankruptcy & Insolvency course since 1998. Between 1997 and 2002 he served as Registrar of Bankruptcy for the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Tim is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, an associate member of the Canadian Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Professionals, and a member of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers. Russell is a native of Grand Bank, Newfoundland, obtained her LL.B. from the University of New Brunswick in 2008 and was admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 2009. Meghan volunteers as a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society Gender Equity Committee and is also a member of the Capital Health Research Ethics Board.

• Tim recently received the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring Section of the Canadian Bar Association.

• Andrew Wolfson, Q.C. and Steven Zatzman, Q.C., long time partners of the law firm Wolfson Schelew Zatzman, will join BOYNECLARKE LLP in the practice of law on December 1, 2012. Wolfson Schelew Zatzman has carried on a broad and successful practice of law in Dartmouth for more than thirty years, and on December 1, 2012 partner Jeff Schelew will be retiring from the practice of law, while Andrew Wolfson, Q.C. and Steven Zatzman, Q.C. will continue to serve the clients of Wolfson Schelew Zatzman at BOYNECLARKE LLP.

NUNAVUT

• Susan Cooper, a partner at Chandler & Cooper in Iqaluit, has been appointed a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice, replacing Justice B.A. Browne.

• Gregory Nearing, 48, who practised criminal law, passed away on Nov. 15, 2009. He has held several significant positions in the past including executive director of the Legal Services Board of the Northwest Territories, treasurer and president of the Northwest Territories Law Society, and president of the Nunavut Law Society.

• Justice R.G. Kilpatrick, a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice, has been appointed senior judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice, replacing Justice B.A. Browne.

• Norman Pickell, appointed last year as Acting Integrity Commissioner for Nunavut, has been confirmed as the Integrity Commissioner of Nunavut.

ONTARIO

• Davis LLP has announced Gavin MacKenzie has joined the team as a litigation partner in the firm's Toronto office.
• The province has appointed Justice Hugh Lloyd Fraser as the regional senior judge for the East Region, Ontario Court of Justice, effective July 25, 2013. He was originally appointed a judge in 1993 and will be replacing Regional Senior Justice Lise Maisonneuve. 
• Fogler Rubinoff LLP has added six new lawyers to the firm. Four partners include Denis A. Chamberland, formerly of Baker & McKenzie LLP, Ronald M. Snyder from Gowlings, Samuel Slutsky, Q.C., formerly in-house counsel at The Lonsdale Group, and Peter H. Baek from Gardiner Roberts. Their practice areas are public procurement, municipal and planning, construction, and technology; employment and labour law, employment litigation, labour relations, occupational health and safety; tax; and tax, personal tax planning, judicial reviews and appeals, respectively. David J. Forgione, from Pallett Valo LLP, joins as an associate. His focus is banking, financial services, and real estate. Shaun M. Doody also joins as an associate, focusing on tax, wills and estates, personal tax planning, and estates and trusts, previouly at Taxperts. 
• Davis LLP, a full-service business law firm, announces Noam Goodman has joined as a partner in the firm's Toronto office. 

• Louis Sokolov has joined Sotos LLP.  

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

• Stephen Carpenter has been named the newest partner at Stewart McKelvey's Charlottetown office. The employment lawyer counts among his clients a range of employers across various industries, as well as organizations in the insurance, education and health sectors.

• Tracey L. Clements, Sherry E. Gillis, and Kim M. McNeill have each been designated Queen's Counsel.

• The Office of the Attorney General and Public Safety will be renamed the Department of Justice and Public Safety.

• Shannon Farrell has been promoted to partner at McInnes Cooper in Charlottetown.

• Gary Scales has joined McInnes Cooper in Charlottetown.

• Tanya LeClair has been called to the Prince Edward Island Bar and is now practising at McInnes Cooper in Summerside.

QUEBEC

• Norton Rose has announced that Olga Farman is joining the Quebec City office as a partner in the business law group. Her practice areas are life sciences, healthcare and technology, business law, and intellectual property law.
• Nathalie David, who focuses on insurance & reinsurance, has been named an equity partner at Clyde & Co.'s Montreal office. 
• Lavery is pleased to announce the appointment of Josianne Beaudry (Montreal), Loïc Berdnikoff (Montreal), Jean-Simon Deschênes (Quebec City), and Nicolas Joubert (Montreal) as partners of the firm.
• Fasken Martineau's Monreal office announced Jean Pierre Desrosiers won the 2013 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for volunteerism in the performing arts, one of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. 
• Joli-Cœur Lacasse announces three new lawyers have joined the firm: Greg Moore, Pascal Côté, and Éric David.

SASKATCHEWAN

• Robertson Stromberg LLP welcomes new lawyer, Jared Epp.  Jared earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan, graduating with Great Distinction. Three years later Jared received his Juris Doctorate of Law, also graduating with Great Distinction. He was the winner of the Douglas A. Schmeiser Prize for highest academic achievement in Constitutional Law and a member of the winning team for the Sopinka Cup, the annual criminal law moot court trial competition between law schools in Canada. At this event he also won an individual award for best cross-examination.

• Shannon Whyley and Penny Yeager are the newest partners at MLT's Saskatoon office.

• Robertson Stromberg LLP welcome Scott Spencer and Karina Jackson to the firm. Scott joins our team after eight years as Senior Counsel in the Federal Justice department. He offers expertise in aboriginal labour and criminal law as well as alternative dispute resolution. A strong advocate for children, Karina has extensive expertise in family law, as well as personal injury, wills and estates and personal litigation. Over the past seven years she has been working in the Northwest Territories and has appeared at all levels of court.

• Darin Clayton Chow of Moose Jaw, has been appointed a judge of the Provincial Court for Yorkton.

• Tammi D. Hackl became a partner at Saskatoon's Scharfstein Gibbings Walen Fisher LLP effective January 1, 2012.

• Brian Barrington-Foote, a partner at MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP, has been appointed a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Saskatchewan, replacing Justice Ellen Gunn, who has become a supernumerary judge. He practised aboriginal, labour and employment, constitutional, commercial and administrative law, as well as civil litigation.

INTERNATIONAL

• Meritas has announces that André Ryan has been named as the organization’s chairman of the board.  He is the third Canadian to have held the position. Ryan officially took over as chairman of the Meritas board of directors during the organization’s Annual Meeting in April 2013. Prior to being named chairman, which carries a two-year term, Ryan served as a member on the Meritas board of directors and as chairman of its Canadian management committee from 2004 to 2007, as well as vice-chair of Meritas and chair of the quality assurance committee since 2011.

• On May 8, Duff & Phelps announced that Hilary Eastman has returned to the firm following a successful seven-year tenure as  Senior Technical Manager at the International Accounting Standards Board where she led the project that drafted the accounting standard on fair value measurement (IFRS 13), a convergence project with the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
• Meritas announces that André Ryan has been named as the organization’s chairman of the board.
• Norton Rose Canada LLP has admitted nine of its lawyers into the partnership. Internationally, Sergio Casinelli from the Caracas office has also made it to the partnership.

• Osler has announced, as of March 1, 2013, six new partners practising in various areas across their offices in Toronto, Calgary, and New York were admitted to the partnership. Kevin Colan, taxation, joins the New York office.

• On April 24, André Ryan will take over as chairman of the board for Meritas, a global alliance of independent law firms. Ryan, a partner at BCF LLP in Montreal, is only the third Canadian to ever hold the position. Previously, Ryan has held multiple Board positions within Meritas, including Chair of its Canadian management committee and Vice Chair of the Board, leading its Quality Assurance and Compliance committee. Ryan is also a member of the Canadian Bar Association.

Last updated: May 23, 2013