Sheila Block
Partner, Torys LLP, Toronto, Ont. One of the sharpest litigators in the nation, Block has served as lead counsel on a recently discounted $5-billion class action lawsuit against CIBC plus a $100-million suit brought by approximately 8,000 residents of Barbados against Manulife. She was also staunch counsel for former Manitoba associate chief justice Lori Douglas from the question of this judge's character in a scandal involving her husband, one of his former clients, and salacious photographs of herself posted on the internet. Block also received an honorary LLD from the Law Society of Upper Canada this year. An urge dedicated to teaching law in Canada and across the globe, she has trained advocates for the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda and the Special Court in Sierra Leone. What voters had to say: Elle demontre son interet a la fois pour l'education du publique et des affaires. (She has demonstrated her interest for the education of the public and company.)
Murray Klippenstein
Founder, Klippensteins Barristers & Solicitors, Toronto, Ont. Back to the second year on the Top 25, Klippenstein's ongoing representation of 13 members of the native Mayan Q'eqchi' inhabitants from El Estor, Guatemala, continues to make waves. Three related lawsuits are ahead of the Ontario courts against Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals over the brutal killing of Adolfo Ich and the gang rape of 11 women from Lote Ocho. In a precedent-setting ruling in July of 2013, an Ontario court decided that lawsuits can proceed to trial in Canada over the objections of Hudbay Minerals. At home he's also taking on the big guys in a case against Encana Corp. which 's challenging the law and practice of hydraulic fracking at Canada. What voters had to say: Kudos for standing up for, upholding Canadian values, wherever we operate.
Justice Murray Sinclair
Chairman, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Winnipeg, Man. A rare write-in candidate winner with this year's Top 25, Sinclair was on the record last year, making headlines in June with the launch of this summary of the record of the TRC along with 94 recommendations to remedy the cultural genocide of Canada's residential college system. Over six years, Sinclair directed the TRC hearing the tales of over 7,000 survivors of sexual, physical, and mental abuse. Sinclair, that had been the first aboriginal judge in Manitoba, was first appointed to the provincial court where he became associate leader in 1988 and then elevated to the Court of Queen's Bench at 2001. He was co-commissioner of Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in 1988 and presided over a 2000 inquest into the deaths of 12 babies at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre. Sinclair hopes to complete the commission's complete report in the not too distant future, following which he will decide whether to return to court or retire and advocate for indigenous rights full-time.
Justice David Stratas
Judge, Federal Court of Appeal, Ottawa, Ont. Stratas penned perhaps the very talked-about decision in the area of employment legislation this year. It will affect federally regulated companies and employees for a long time to come. His February Federal Court of Appeal decision in Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada flies in the face of 40 years of legislation permitting federally regulated employers to dismiss workers without cause. Before the conclusion, the consensus was that employees who are governed by the Canada Labour Code may only be terminated for just cause. Many federally regulated organizations such as banks, telecommunications companies, and transport companies see the decision a victory, due to its long-term effects. The court needs to be a tie-breaker on this problem, wrote Stratas. Because of its impact, Joseph Wilson filed for leave to appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada in late March. A choice on leave is pending. What voters had to say: He's the greatest administrative law jurist of the era. The single one going deep into philosophy, making sense of it all. Thoughtful, scholarly, practical, and so hard working. Connected to the last, it appears the cases with a real impact from the Federal Court of Appeal are composed by him. Plain talking decisions really hammer the important points home.
Pascale Fournier
Professor & study chair, legal pluralism and comparative law, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa, Ont. Fournier has achieved international fame for her groundbreaking work on gender, religion, and the law, using fieldwork interviews with women from various states to emphasize the intricate interplay between spiritual and secular law. She's received numerous national and international awards and nominations in 2014. Fournier became a fellow of the prestigious International Women's Forum because of her role as a leader in the legal profession; getting the Canada-Arab Chamber of Commerce Award for academic excellence and contribution to humanity. Fournier represented the University of Ottawa as a successful leader at the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference and has been unanimously appointed by the National Assembly of Quebec to the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission. What voters had to say: Superb mind, according [to] Harvard's Prof. Kennedy.
Alice Woolley
Professor and associate dean-academic, University of Calgary Faculty of Law, Calgary, Alta. Woolley is a true changemaker in the region of technology and law in addition to law regulation. She has been a valuable member of the Canadian Bar Association's integrity and professional responsibility committee. Her job with the CBA Futures project as an ethics and regulatory issues staff member is truly making a mark at the legal community. Woolley is also responsible for sweeping educational modifications as chairwoman of the committee that developed and adopted significant curricular changes at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Law, which focus on the technical elements of legal instruction and will come into effect in September. What voters had to say: Leading expert on legal profession and integrity; once she speaks, people listen. Alice is a pragmatic visionary. Educating law students in a way that will prepare them for a 21st century practice is of crucial importance to the future of our profession.
No comments:
Post a Comment