Dean's Council Member Appointed to Superior Court of Justice

Bonnie Warkentin, Law '89, was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on July 31, 2008.

Bonnie Warkentin, Law ‘89, a member of the Dean's Council, was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on July 31, 2008.  A highly respected member of the Ontario Bar for 17 years, she has been appointed to the North West Region, and sits in Thunder Bay.

Justice Warkentin received a B.A. from the University of Winnipeg in 1983 before coming to Queen's Law.  After she was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1991, she practised family law and estate litigation with Willoughby MacLeod LLP as an associate, and later became a partner.  Most recently, she was a partner at Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP.  Among the many positions she has held in the legal community, she has served as a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada since 2003.  Justice Warkentin has also been the President of the Frontenac Law Association and served on the Council of the Ontario Bar Association.  It was in 2007 that she made her decision to apply to the bench.

"My law partner, Angus MacLeod [Law ‘75] encouraged me to take that step," said Justice Warkentin.  "I had spent the past five years as a bencher and part of the role was to be a member of the Hearing Panel.  I found I enjoyed that side of the bench."

Justice Warkentin was sworn in on August 27, 2008.

"I want to first learn the job and am delighted by the mentors I have here in Thunder Bay," Warkentin said.  "It is my goal to listen to those who appear before me and ensure that decisions I make are carefully considered.  My hope is that I can make the parties feel that they have been heard, regardless of whether they win or lose.  When I was a litigator, those were the judges I most respected."