British Columbia Judicial Appointments Announced

OTTAWA, December 18, 2013 – The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Central Nova, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

The Honourable George K. Macintosh, a lawyer with Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP in Vancouver, is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia to replace Mr. Justice W.B. Smart, who resigned effective August 31, 2013.

Mr. Justice Macintosh obtained a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1972. He was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1974 and the Bar of Alberta in 1980. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1987.

Mr. Justice Macintosh has practised with Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP and its predecessor firms since 1974. His main areas of practice were civil litigation, administrative law, constitutional law and arbitration.

Mr. Justice Macintosh is a member of the Supreme Court of Canada Advocacy Institute for the British Columbia region. He has been a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1991 and a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers since 2001. He is a founding member of the British Columbia Inns of Court program. He is also a past president of the Canadian Bar Association – Civil Litigation Section.

The Honourable Nigel P. Kent, a lawyer with Clark Wilson LLP in Vancouver, is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia to replace Mr. Justice R.B.T. Goepel, who was appointed to the Court of Appeal of British Columbia on November 7, 2013.

Mr. Justice Kent received a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1980 and was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1991. He was a member of the Alberta Bar from 1981 to 1994.

Mr. Justice Kent has practised with Clark Wilson LLP since 1991.  Prior to that, he practised with Parlee McLaws in Edmonton, Alberta. His main area of practice was civil litigation including insurance law, corporate and commercial law, personal injury, and professional liability law.

Mr. Justice Kent was a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the International Association of Defence Counsel, and the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia. He has been a faculty member at Capilano University since 2008. He is the author of numerous articles on insurance law issues and has been a frequent speaker of Continuing Legal Education programs.

The Honourable Jennifer M.I. Duncan, Crown counsel with the Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice Branch, in Vancouver, is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia to replace Madam Justice R.J. Dillon, who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of October 20, 2012.

Madam Justice Duncan received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia in 1990 and was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1992. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2012.

Madam Justice Duncan served as Crown counsel for the British Columbia Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice Branch – Criminal Appeals in Vancouver from1998. She served as Crown counsel with the Criminal Justice Branch in Kamloops from 1992 to 1999. She also served as a law clerk at the British Columbia Supreme Court. Her main area of practice is criminal law and, more recently, criminal appellate advocacy.

Madam Justice Duncan has been a faculty member of the Federation of Law Societies’ of Canada, National Criminal Law Program since 2012. She has served on the Discipline Committee of the Law Society of British Columbia and is also a past executive member of the British Columbia Crown Counsel Association.

The Honourable Neena Sharma, a lawyer with the Ministry of Justice in Vancouver, is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia to replace Madam Justice W.G. Baker, who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of April 22, 2013.

Madam Justice Sharma received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Victoria in 1990 and was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1992. She was legal counsel with the British Columbia Ministry of Justice, Legal Services Branch, from 1995.  Prior to that, she acted as agent of the Attorney General of Canada and was an associate with Alexander Holburn Beaudoin & Lang. She also served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Brian Dickson of the Supreme Court of Canada and, later, to Mr. Justice William Stevenson. Her main area of practice was civil litigation with a focus on constitutional and administrative law and, more recently, labour relations.

Madam Justice Sharma served as an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria. She has been a frequent speaker at the British Columbia Continuing Legal Education conferences.

These appointments are effectively immediately.

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