NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA, September 19, 2007 − The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment:

The Honourable Lawrence I. O’Neil, Q.C., a lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid in Antigonish, is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. He replaces Mr. Justice A.D. MacAdam (Halifax) who elected to become a supernumerary judge.

Mr. Justice O’Neil completed a year of graduate studies in energy law from the University of Alberta in 1983, a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1979 and a Bachelor of Arts from St. Francis Xavier University in 1976. He was admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1979 and to the Ontario Bar in 1992. Mr. Justice O’Neil practiced with Pickup & MacDowell and as a sole practitioner before becoming a staff lawyer for Nova Scotia Legal Aid in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He has developed a practice expertise in litigation, criminal law and family law. In addition to private practice, Mr. Justice O’Neil has acted as a Member of Parliament for Cape Breton Highlands-Canso (1984-1988), a Member of the Board of Directors for the Strait of Canso Superport Corporation, an Adjudicator of Small Claims Court of Nova Scotia and as an Instructor in Business Law at St. Francis Xavier University.

This appointment is effective immediately.

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Ref.:
Geneviève Breton
Director of Communications
Minister’s Office
613-992-4621