Minister Parsons Announces Queen’s Counsel Appointments

  • Justice and Public Safety

January 22, 2019

The Honourable Andrew Parsons, Minister of Justice and Public Safety, is pleased to announce the province’s newest appointments to the Queen’s Counsel by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

The honorary title of Queen’s Counsel recognizes senior lawyers for exceptional merit and contribution to the legal profession. These lawyers have served a minimum of 10 years as a member of the bar in Newfoundland and Labrador, have gained the respect of the legal community and are in good standing with the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Appointments are made after consultation with the Legal Appointments Board as outlined in the Queen’s Counsel Act.

Those appointed to Queen’s Counsel are Barbara G. Barrowman, R. Archibald Bonnell, Andrew O. Brown, Melanie R. Del Rizzo, Gregory A. French, Susan H. Gallant, Stephanie S. Hickman, Susan M. LeDrew, Rebecca A. Redmond MacLean and Geoffrey P. Young. Biographies of each appointee can be found in the backgrounder below.

Quotes
“I congratulate this year’s Queen’s Counsel appointees. The lawyers receiving this honour have made significant contributions to the justice system. They are being recognized for their skills and dedication to the legal profession and their communities. They are leaders in the province and committed to making Newfoundland and Labrador a better place for us all.”
Honourable Andrew Parsons
Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General

– 30 –

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BACKGROUNDER

Biographies Queen’s Counsel Appointees

Barbara G. Barrowman
Barbara Barrowman obtained a Bachelor of Science (Honours – Life Sciences) from Queen’s University in 1988, receiving the University Medal in Life Sciences, and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Toronto in 1991 where she was awarded the Angus MacMurchy Gold Medal. She clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada in 1991-92 with the late Honourable Justice John Sopinka. Following her admission to the Bar in Ontario in 1993, she commenced her legal career as counsel with the Crown Law Office – Criminal of the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, appearing primarily before the Ontario Court of Appeal. Barrowman subsequently obtained a Doctor of Medicine from Memorial University in 1998 where she received the University Medal for Academic Excellence and then completed a residency in Family Medicine. She was admitted to the Bar in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003, at which she time she joined the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Justice, where she continues to practice primarily in the areas of constitutional law, intergovernmental relations, and health law. She has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada. Barrowman also teaches health law in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University. She is a member of the Law School Entrance Scholarship Committee of the Law Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and has volunteered with Shallaway Youth Choir and the Newfoundland and Labrador Speech and Debate Union.

R. Archibald Bonnell
Archibald Bonnell was born in Grand Bank, Newfoundland and Labrador, on October 30, 1946. He graduated from Amalgamated Regional High School in Corner Brook in 1965. Following high school, Bonnell graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts in 1970 and then graduated from Dalhousie University Law School in 1973 with a Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Newfoundland Bar in 1973 and has practiced law in St. John’s and Gander. Bonnell currently practices law in Gander with a branch office in Badger’s Quay. From 2000 to 2002, he volunteered with the Music Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. Bonnell has published a book of poems and photographs with his son Zachary titled The Hill. He is married with three children and two grandchildren.

Andrew O. Brown
Andrew Brown attended Dalhousie Law School after attending Memorial University of Newfoundland for three years. He graduated in 1997 and articled in small Halifax firm, Cragg and Weir, gaining admission to the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society in 1998. He stayed at Cragg and Weir until late 1999 when he returned to Newfoundland and Labrador and completed the Law Society’s Bar Admission Course, becoming a member in April 2000. In May 2000, Mr. Brown started working as a general practitioner with Easton, Facey, Hillier & Lawrence in Gander, with particular interest in his work as a Crown Agent for the Federal Prosecution Service of Canada. In 2002, he returned to St. John’s, working briefly with the Crown Attorney’s Office before joining the Federal Prosecution Service of Canada, which has since transformed into the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC). For the first five years at PPSC he primarily conducted “economic crimes” prosecutions, especially tax evasion and contraband offences under to the Excise Act, Income Tax Act, Customs Act and Excise Act, 2001. For the next few years, he was primarily responsible for drug prosecutions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CBSA), including complex wiretap conspiracy cases. From 2010 to 2018 he was the Team Leader for the St. John’s PPSC office, working as supervisor for other counsel and staff, while maintaining a CDSA caseload of his own, acting as a wiretap agent, and participating in the PPSC’s Regional Management and Regional Litigation Committees. In 2018, he became Deputy Chief Federal Prosecutor for the Atlantic Region, managing PPSC cases and personnel in the four Atlantic Provinces with CFP Shaun O’Leary.

Melanie R. Del Rizzo
Melanie Del Rizzo was born and raised in St. John’s. She graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) from Memorial University of Newfoundland, obtained her LL.B. from McGill University in 1994, and was called to the Newfoundland and Labrador Bar in 1995. She is a senior partner with the St. John’s law firm of Smyth Woodland Del Rizzo Barrett. She has developed an extensive practice primarily devoted to family law and is a certified mediator. A member of the national executive of the Canadian Bar Association Family Section since 2009, Ms. Del Rizzo currently serves as the national Chair of the Section. In that role, she recently had the privilege of addressing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights with respect to proposed amendments to the Divorce Act on behalf of the 36,000 members of the Canadian Bar Association nationwide. She served as a member of the City of St. John’s Heritage Committee for 12 years, on student councils for nine, and is a recipient of the Law Society’s Gordon M. Stirling Distinguished Service Award, but is most proud of her 31 seasons (and counting) playing with the Gower Youth Band and Gower Community Band. She is married to John Del Rizzo and is mom to Amelia and Gabe.

Gregory A. French
Gregory French is originally from Coley’s Point, Newfoundland and Labrador. He graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Co-op degree in 1994, and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New Brunswick in 1998. He received a Masters of Laws from the University of Toronto in 2009. Mr. French articled at Curtis, Dawe and was called to the Newfoundland and Labrador Bar in 1998. In 2006, he moved in-house at Memorial University where he held various positions, until leaving in 2016 to start his own law firm – French Law Offices. He is Chair of the Teacher Certification Review Panel, a Board Member of the Legal Aid Commission, and the Chief Adjudicator with the RNC Adjudication Panel. Outside of the office, he is an officer in the Canadian Army reserves and has been a member of the CLB for 20 years.

Susan H. Gallant
Susan H. Gallant graduated from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1992 with a Bachelor of Music. In 1995, she graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor of Laws degree and articled with Kelly, Howard and Santini in Ottawa until she returned to Newfoundland and Labrador where she completed articles with Stagg, Marks and Mills in Stephenville. Ms. Gallant was called to the Bar of Ontario in February 1997 and to the Bar of Newfoundland and Labrador in June 1997. She commenced private practice with the firm of Mills and Gallant in 1998 and continued in that position until she began working at the Crown Attorney’s Office in Stephenville in January 2014. While in private practice Gallant held positions on the Mental Health Care and Treatment Act Review Board, the Disciplinary Panel of Institute of Chartered Accountants of NL, the Board of Administrators of the R.C. Episcopal Corporation of St. George’s and Labrador and was a Director with Jack and Jill Nursery School. She is currently a Director of the R.C. Shepherd’s Fund Foundation, has a working partnership with Newfoundland Aboriginal Women’s Network and is the current President of Stephenville Minor Soccer Association.

Stephanie S. Hickman
Stephanie Hickman is from St. John’s and graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts and from the University of New Brunswick in 1995 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. She was called to the Bar of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1996. She has practiced with Cox and Palmer and its predecessor firms in St. John’s since 1996 and became a partner of the firm in 2003. Her practice is concentrated in construction, energy, oil and gas and commercial law. Ms. Hickman has been very involved in the management of Cox and Palmer and has served as the regional member of the firm’s Diversity Committee. She currently chairs Cox and Palmer’s regional Construction Law Group, lectures frequently to industry groups on construction law and presents to the Canadian Bar Association on a national level. She is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers, and is a member of the Oil and Gas Industry Development Council. Hickman was recognized as the 2018 Lawyer of the Year for Construction in Newfoundland and Labrador, has been listed as a leading practitioner since 2013 by the publication Best Lawyers in Canada and has been recognized since 2013 as a Lexpert leading practitioner in her area of practice. Hickman is an active volunteer in her community. She has served as Chair of the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, was a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, has been a director of NLOWE, Lakecrest Independent School, and St. John Ambulance, an elected member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Association, and currently sits as a Director on the Dr. Jack Hand Foundation. She is also a member of the Women President’s Organization.

Susan M. LeDrew
Susan M. LeDrew was born in Corner Brook to Anita (Murphy) and Gerry LeDrew. She was educated in various towns throughout the province including Gander, Stephenville and Clarenville-Shoal Harbour and is a graduate of Regina High School in Corner Brook. LeDrew received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Memorial University, having attended the Grenfell, St. John’s and Harlow Campuses and her Bachelor of Laws Degree from Dalhousie University. She was called to the Bar of Newfoundland and Labrador in January 1997. Ms. LeDrew has been an active Bencher for over a decade and is a Past-President of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. She has held many executive positions with the Canadian Bar Association on both provincial and national levels, including Membership Chair (representing the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador) and National Chair of the Real Property Section (representing Canadian real property lawyers). She has served on numerous volunteer committees and boards, including the national Federation of Law Societies, the Board of Regents of Memorial University, Newfoundland and Labrador College of Physiotherapists; Cygnus Gymnastics, Chair – Downtown St. John’s (formerly Downtown Development Corporation), Chair – School Councils of both MacDonald Drive Junior High and Macdonald Drive Elementary, Chair – Confederation Building Day Care Co-operative Society, and Chief Instructor – Newfoundland Safety Council (motorcycle). She has appeared before all levels of courts in Newfoundland and Labrador and has been a lecturer at the Law Society’s Bar Admission Course. She enjoyed many years of partnership with the firm Smyth Woodland Del Rizzo and LeDrew before embarking on her new adventure in 2014 as a sole-practitioner in St. John’s. Ms. LeDrew is the proud mother of Harrison, Anderson and Oliver, and wife of Rolf Pritchard, Q.C.

Rebecca A. Redmond MacLean
Rebecca Redmond MacLean was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and moved to Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1995. Ms. Redmond MacLean graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Economics in 1992 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1995 at which time she was awarded both the Borden Elliott Prize and the Canadian Bar Association Maritime Law Prize. In 1996, she was called to the bar in Newfoundland and Labrador, earning both the Penney Award for Family Law and the Hunt Award for the highest marks in the Bar Admission Course Examinations. She has practiced in Gander for the entirety of her career, both with the Newfoundland and Labrador Legal Aid Commission and in private practice. She opened her own firm in 2012 which provides legal services in all areas. Her primary areas of interest are Family Law, Real Estate, Wills, and Estates. Redmond MacLean is a Bencher with the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, serving as Chair of the Honours and Awards Committee, a member of the Library Committee, a member of the Code of Professional Conduct Review Committee, and an alternate member of the Complaints Authorization Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (PLIAN). She is an active community volunteer with many organizations in Gander, including the St. Paul’s Intermediate Parents’ Council and the Gander Lakers Swim Club. Ms. Redmond MacLean and her husband, Brian, have three children: Reaghan, Ewan and Finley.

Geoffrey P. Young
Geoffrey P. Young was born in Bonavista but raised in St. John’s. In 1983, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland and received an LL.B. from Dalhousie Law School in 1986. He was called to the bar in 1987 having articled under Jack Harris at the firm of Williams, Harris, Roebothan and McKay, where he worked until 1989 practicing primarily labour relations law. In 1989, he left private practice and commenced a long career as in-house counsel at Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro where his practice has involved mostly commercial law and regulatory law before the Public Utilities Board. In September of 2016, he joined the Executive Team of Hydro in the role of Corporate Secretary and General Counsel, where he remains today. In his legal practice he has appeared before numerous administrative tribunals and before all court levels in the Province. He is a past board member of Junior Achievement and of the Caribou Legion Manor, a non-profit organization and residence for veterans and seniors.

Media contact
Lesley Clarke
Justice and Public Safety
709-729-6985, 699-2910
LesleyClarke@gov.nl.ca

2019 01 22 11:40 am