A huge thank you to our Advisory Panel for dedicating time to judge the 2023 Canadian Law Awards

The panel was comprised of 61 esteemed legal leaders

A huge thank you to our Advisory Panel for dedicating time to judge the 2023 Canadian Law Awards

On behalf of Lexpert, Canadian Lawyer and InHouse, we would like to thank our external Advisory Panel, who invested many hours reading the large volume of detailed submissions and casting their votes. PWC – The Official Ballot Accountants – also verified the score tallies.

See our full list of winners.

The extensive and diverse panel of in-house and private practice judges ensures that all finalists’ submissions are scrutinized from multiple perspectives, and that true excellence, innovation, and quality are awarded.

It was the fourth year for the law awards, which launched in 2020 and the second time it was held as an in-person event.

Lexpert and Canadian Lawyer would also like to thank sponsors for the Canadian Law Award, which include: event partner LEAP Legal Software (Canada); award sponsors Dye & DurhamLawson Lundell LLPLexis NexisLincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University and Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP; and media partners the South Asian Bar Association of Toronto and Women General Counsel of Canada. In addition, PwC – the official ballot accountants for the event – verified the score tallies.

The panel was comprised of the following esteemed private practice and in-house counsel leaders who dedicated their time to awarding excellence:

Jennifer Addison
SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
EPCOR Utilities Inc., WGCC- Prairies Chapter Lead

Arif Ahmad
Vice President, Corporate and Legal Affairs & General Counsel
Re:Sound

Jacqueline Beckles
General Counsel and CABL- Board Member
Department of Justice Canada

Stephen Beney
Managing Partner
Bereskin & Parr LLP

Mark T. Bennett
Executive Chair
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Lydia Bugden, KC
CEO & Managing Partner
Stewart McKelvey

Olivier Chouc
Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Law
Canadian National Railway Company

Jeffrey Cohen
Managing Partner
Torkin Manes LLP

George Cooper, KC
Chief Executive Officer and Partner
Cox & Palmer

Bindu Cudjoe
Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, and Vice President WGCC
Laurentian Bank of Canada

Vincent de l’Étoile
Partner, Litigation Group; Member Board of Directors
Langlois lawyers, LLP

Terrie Devonish
Chief Legal Officer
Altus Group

Innes Dey
SVP, Legal & Strategy
Definity Financial

Peter Feldberg
Firm Managing Partner
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Paul Fruitman
Partner
Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP

Yonni Fushman
Chief Legal Officer and EVP, Sustainability
Northland Power Inc.

Kath Hammond
Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Safety and Security
Greater Toronto Airports Authority

Alison Harnick
Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
First Capital REIT And Board Member Women General Counsel Canada

Nizam Hasham
General Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary
Canadian Pacific Railway

Sharon Haward-Laird
General Counsel
BMO Financial Group

Gillian Hnatiw
Principal at Gillian Hnatiw & Co., Past Chair of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)

Charles E. Hurdon
Managing Partner – Canada
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP

Dominique Hussey
Vice Chair, Toronto Managing Partner
Bennett Jones LLP

Monique Jilesen
Managing Partner
Lenczner Slaght

Philippe Johnson
Managing Partner, Montreal
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Rustam Juma
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Volkswagen and Audi Canada

Jeffrey Jay Kay, KC
Managing Partner
Farris LLP

Kevin Kiley, KC
Managing Partner
McInnes Cooper

Lynn Korbak
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Toromont Industries Ltd

James Kosa
Partner, Technology and IP
WeirFoulds LLP

Arun Krishnamurti
Counsel
Google Canada

Justin Kutyan
National Leader and Senior Partner
KPMG Law LLP

Michael Ladha
Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

Dale H. Lastman, C.M.
Chair
Goodmans LLP

Blair McCreadie
Managing Partner, Toronto
Dentons Canada LLP

John G. Murphy
National Managing Partner & CEO
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)

Benjamin Na
Toronto Managing Partner
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP

Steven Ngo
Counsel at Rivian, President at Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers BC

Peter V. Nguyen
SVP Legal, Associate General Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary, and Founder GC Forum
Descartes Systems Group

Lorne O’Reilly
Lead Counsel, and VP & Treasurer and Member of the Board of Directors-Alberta Chapter, Association of Corporate Counsel
Dow Chemical Canada ULC

Kerry O’Reilly Wilks
Chief Officer, Legal, Regulatory & External Affairs
TransAlta Corporation

Robert Piasentin
Partner, Technology
McMillan LLP

Heather Platt
Chief Legal Officer
Metrolinx

Karrin A. Powys-Lybbe
Partner
Torys LLP

Emmanuel Pressman
Chair, Corporate Department
Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Clifford G. Proudfoot, KC
Managing Partner
Lawson Lundell LLP

Poonam Puri
Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School
York University

Bruce Reynolds
Co-Managing Partner and Co-Chair – International Construction Projects Group
Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

Nathalie Rizcalla
VP HR, Corporate and Legal Affairs
Pelican International

Samir Sabharwal
General Counsel
Alberta Securities Commission

Thomas Santram
Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Cineplex Entertainment

Melanie Schweizer
Senior Vice-President Legal, General Counsel
Bell Canada

Robert Seidel, KC
Canada Managing Partner
DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Godyne N.L. Sibay
Managing Partner, Ontario Region
McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Jeffrey Singer
Chair of the Firm
Stikeman Elliott LLP

Lisa Skakun
Chief Legal, Regulatory & Corporate Affairs Officer
Coast Capital Savings

Michael S. Slan
Managing Partner
Fogler, Rubinoff LLP

Bryson A. Stokes
Firm Managing Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Abigail Turner
Partner
Harper Grey LLP

Yola Ventresca
Managing Partner
Lerners LLP

Andrea Wood
Chief Legal and Governance Officer
TELUS