Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP makes a major $400,000 donation to Queen’s Law; Classroom renewal project reaches $1.3-million goal

Photo by John Bebee

Dean Bill Flanagan (fourth from right) accepts a $400,000 cheque for Queen's Law's Classroom Renewal Project from FMC CEO Chris Pinnington and colleagues Tiffany Soucy, Law '03, Senator David Smith, Law '70, Tom Houston, Law '78, Ronald Matheson, Law '78, Kara Sutherland, and Peter Murphy, Law '78.

KINGSTON, ON (DEC. 6, 2010) -- With a generous $400,000 gift from Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC), one of Canada’s leading law firms, Queen’s Law has now achieved its fundraising target of $1.3 million for an extensive renewal of Macdonald Hall classrooms.

FMC CEO Chris Pinnington and colleagues presented the cheque to Dean Bill Flanagan at the firm’s new Toronto office on November 10.   

“This $400,000 FMC gift is one of the largest single donations to Queen’s Law in its 54-year history,” Flanagan says. “We are most grateful to the firm and to our alumni working there, who together were able to make this gift and help us offer first-class learning facilities to our students.”

Pinnington says FMC chose to make this gift for several reasons: “Firstly, we have a number of Queen’s Law alumni at the firm who took leadership of this project and agreed to personally support it through their own pledges. Secondly, FMC has been the beneficiary of the strong legal training that Queen’s Law provides to its students and wanted to recognize this through a significant gift. Thirdly, we understand the financial challenges facing law schools in Ontario. Finally, we saw the associated naming opportunity as a way to raise our profile at the law school and assist us in future recruitment.”

Included in FMC’s major gift were many individual donations by Queen’s Law alumni who are partners and associates with the firm. In addition to making their own leading contributions, three graduates -- Tom Houston, Law ‘78 (Com ‘75), managing partner of FMC’s Ottawa office; and Ronald Matheson, Law ‘78 (Artsci ‘75) and Peter Murphy, Law ‘78 (Artsci ‘75), partners of FMC’s Toronto office -- approached their colleagues for their personal support. They soon discovered their fellow grads were very willing to support their alma mater.

“I found that our partners and associates appreciate the education they received at Queen’s Law and saw an opportunity to ‘give back,’ while at the same time taking advantage of the opportunity to leave an FMC legacy at the law school,” Houston says.

The $1.3-million Classroom Renewal Project has funded the renovation of Macdonald Hall’s four basement classrooms and a second-floor seminar room this fall. Students and faculty are delighted with the new teaching spaces, which feature state-of-the-art educational technology, improved accessibility, ventilation, acoustics, classroom and lighting design, and new furniture throughout.

In recognition of FMC’s significant gift, the University’s Board of Trustees approved at its December 4 meeting the Law Faculty’s request to name Macdonald Hall’s largest classroom, Room 001, in honour of the firm.

A ribbon-cutting celebration will take place on January 12, 2011.

See the list of partners and associates at FMC who made individual donations to the Classroom Renewal Project at http://law.queensu.ca/news/archives/december2010/fmcMajorGift/classroomRenewalProjectFMCDonors.pdf.
Queen’s Law is grateful to all donors who supported the Classroom Renewal Project. See the list of leadership donors at http://law.queensu.ca/news/archives/december2010/fmcMajorGift/classroomRenewalProjectDonors.pdf.