The OBA Awards were presented April 24 recognizing the best and the brightest in the legal profession.
The awards, presented to members of the legal profession who have made exceptional contributions to the practice of law in Ontario and to the Ontario Bar Association, were handed out at the OBA Annual Awards Gala at the InterContinental Toronto Centre hotel.
The first award of the evening, the Mundell Medal for Legal Writing, went to Professor Jim Phillips of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. It was presented by was presented by The Hon. Madeleine Meilleur, Attorney General of Ontario.
OBA President Pascale Daigneault this year presented two OBA President’s Awards.
The first went to The Hon. Annemarie Bonkalo, Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice. The second went to l’AJEFO, l’Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario.
The OBA’s Award for Distinguished Service was given to Ian D. Kirby of Gilbert Kirby Stringer LLP, Paul D. Paton of the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, and lawyer Maryellen Symons;
The OBA’s Linda Adlam Manning Award was presented to Lucy K. McSweeney of the Office of The Children’s Lawyer;
The OBA’s Heather McArthur Memorial Young Lawyers’ Award was presented to Fareen L. Jamal of Jamal Family Law Professional Corporation.
Other dignitaries in attendance included The Hon. R. Roy McMurtry, former Chief Justice of Ontario, Chief Justice Heather Smith of the Superior Court of Justice, Assoc. Chief Justice Lise Maisonneuve of the Ontario Court of Justice, The Hon. Jamie Trimble of the Superior Court of Justice and a past OBA president, The Hon. Heather McGee of the Superior Court of Justice and also a past OBA president, The Hon. Robert Sharpe of the Ontario Court of Appeal (Retired), The Hon. Edward Ormston of the Ontario Court of Justice, The Hon. Paul Robertson of the Ontario Court of Justice, The Hon. Gertrude Speigel of the Superior Court of Justice, The Hon. Emile Kruzick of the Superior Court of Justice, Tom Conway, Law Society of Upper Canada Treasurer, Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin, Dr. Patricia Hughes of the Law Commission of Ontario Ontario Trial Lawyers Association President-Elect Steve Rastin, and Advocates’ Society President President Alan Mark.
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