Department of Justice

ALBERTA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA, June 9, 1999 -- The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

Neil C. Wittmann, Q.C., of Calgary is appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal of Alberta in Calgary. He replaces Mr. Justice Willis E. O’Leary, who has chosen to become a supernumerary judge.

Mr. Justice Wittmann obtained his LL.B. from the University of Alberta in 1967 and was called to the Alberta Bar in 1968. He joined the firm of Fenerty, McGillivray, where he practised law until 1969. Mr. Justice Wittmann then joined the firm of Brownlee Fryett, where he remained until 1972. Prior to his appointment to the Bench, Mr. Justice Wittmann practised law with the firm of Code Hunter Wittmann, mainly in the area of civil litigation, and also acted as a counsel and arbitrator in many mediations involving commercial, professional liability and construction disputes.

A Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta from 1990 to 1997, Mr. Justice Wittmann served as its President in 1996. He has also been a member of the International Bar Association, the Defence Research Institute, the International Association of Defence Counsel and the American College of Trial Lawyers. Since 1998, Mr. Justice Wittman has been Chair of the Alberta Law Reform Institute.

Douglas A. Sirrs, Q.C., of Wetaskiwin is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in Red Deer. He replaces Mr. Justice John H. MacKenzie, who has chosen to become a supernumerary judge.

Mr. Justice Sirrs graduated in law from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972, and was called to the Alberta Bar in 1973. He joined the firm of Sirrs Deckert Allen Cymbalik, in Wetaskiwin, where he practised mainly criminal law and civil litigation and, more recently, in the areas of corporate law, real estate and estates.

Mr. Justice Sirrs has been President of the Wetaskiwin Bar Association and a Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta.

Patricia A. Rowbotham, Q.C., of Calgary is appointed a judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta in Calgary. She replaces Mr. Justice Ernest A. Hutchinson, who has chosen to become a supernumerary judge.

Madam Justice Rowbotham obtained her LL.B. from the University of Calgary in 1981, and her LL.M. from Cambridge University (England) in 1984. After completing her undergraduate studies, Madam Justice Robowtham worked with the firm known today as Milner Fenerty before joining the firm of Blake Cassels and Graydon, where she practised primarily civil litigation, commercial, labour and family law.

Her teaching career started in 1990 when she joined the Faculty of Law of the University of Calgary as an assistant professor; she became an associate professor in 1994. She has mainly taught in the areas of civil procedure, evidence (criminal and civil), torts, advocacy, responsibility and ethics.

Until her appointment to the Bench, Madam Justice Rowbotham was a Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta. Madam Justice Rowbotham is bilingual.

These appointments are effective immediately.

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Ref.: Johanne Senécal
Minister’s Office
(613) 992-4621