Law ‘82 grad inducted into College of Labor and Employment Lawyers

Photo courtesy of Bennett Jones LLP

Jim D'Andrea, Law '82

Jim D’Andrea, Law ‘82 (Arts ‘77, MA ‘80) was installed as a Fellow of the American College of Labor and Employment Lawyers when it held its 16th Annual Induction Dinner in Seattle, Washington, in November. The College honours lawyers it deems possess the highest professional qualifications and ethical standards as well as character, integrity and leadership.

A partner at Bennett Jones LLP (Calgary office), D’Andrea calls his induction a huge honour. “It’s recognition by my colleagues of my conduct in the profession – I’m very appreciative of that.” Fellows are recommended by peers, the bar, bench and public.

D’Andrea, who has been recognized for the past three years in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, has worked on a number of high-profile cases in his 29-year career. One of the most recent involved acting for three employees who had left their jobs and started a competing business (Globex Foreign Exchange Corporation v. Kelcher). In that case, the court decided non-competition covenants were unreasonable. D’Andrea also acted for the Canadian National Alpine Team in 1999 regarding the cancellation of the World Cup Ladies’ Downhill Races, which, as a former athlete, he says was a “fascinating case.” He has also written Employee Obligations in Canada and co-authored Illness and Disability in the Workplace: How to Navigate Through the Legal Minefield, among other publications. 

He credits Queen’s Law as a wonderful training ground for the legal world, citing several professors as influential on his career -- among them Ron Delisle, David Mullan, Hugh Lawford and Sonny Sadinsky. “My whole experience prepared me well for stepping into the practice of law,” he says. “I got a terrific understanding of the law in many areas.”

Hugh MacKinnon, Chairman and CEO of Bennett Jones LLP, says D’Andrea is the ideal person for the recognition. “Installation as a Fellow is the highest recognition of sustained outstanding performance in the profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication and excellence. Jim is an excellent example of the attributes required for election into the College.”

Frederick von Veh, QC, Law ‘67, a partner in the firm’s Toronto office, was elected a Fellow in 2007. The College is represented by more than 1,100 members in the US and Canada. These two alumni, D’Andrea and von Veh, are among only 16 Canadians named to this body.

(Jim D’Andrea, a member of Queen’s Football Hall of Fame, was featured in Queen’s Law Reports 2010; see pp. 46-47 at http://law.queensu.ca/alumni/queensLawReports/lawReports2010.pdf.)