Queen’s Law grads are once again recognized for outstanding achievements by Lexpert in its business magazine for lawyers. This year’s Lexpert Zenith Awards were presented to mid-career practitioners for excellence in their legal careers and in their contributions to the profession, community or society.  

Here’s what Lexpert has to say about the award-winning Queen’s Law alumni. 

Barbara Johnston, QC, Law’93, Dentons Canada LLP
(Employment Law)

Barbara Johnston, QC, heads Dentons’ Calgary Labour and Employment group. Johnston has been counsel in major cases in labour, employment, human rights, and health and safety matters. She served as a board member and, ultimately, President of the Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers. She was inducted as a Fellow into the U.S. College of Labor & Employment Lawyers in 2016, one of the first Canadian women to receive this recognition. Johnston is Vice-Chair of the Alberta Alumni Council for Queen’s Faculty of Law and is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Queen’s Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace.

George Begic, Law’92, Deloitte LLP 
(Corporate Commercial Law)

As Assistant General Counsel at Deloitte, George Begic helps guide management on complex acquisitions, divestitures and initiatives. He has led the legal negotiations of no fewer than 14 strategic transactions over the past two years and is a trusted advisor to Deloitte’s leadership team. Begic has led initiatives on Impact Day for World University Service of Canada, which sponsors refugee students to attend university in Canada, and participates in the Legal Leaders for Diversity mentorship program.

Paul Litner, Law’88, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP  
(Pensions & Employee Benefits)

Paul Litner is Chair of his firm’s Pensions & Benefits Department. His practice relates exclusively to pensions, benefits and compensation plans, and he deals extensively with pension and benefits issues arising in mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations. He has assisted several clients in implementing pension plan mergers, conversions and other innovative plan consolidation strategies. Litner has been engaged with the Association of Canadian Pension Management over the past decade, and he was an active member of its National Policy Committee and served a two-year term as Chair. In 2013, the ACPM honoured Litner with the Association of Canadian Pension Management Award for Exceptional Volunteerism. He has authored numerous articles for retirement industry publications.

Daniel Michaluk, Law’97 (Com’94), Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP
(Computer and IT Law)

Dan Michaluk advises management on a range of issues related to information security and data management, anti-spam (CASL), privacy and freedom of information. He acts frequently as a “breach coach,” helping guide organizations to respond to data security incidents. Michaluk has helped Canadian post-secondary institutions manage complex human risks by obtaining and processing threat-related information, and his work on violence prevention at post-secondary institutions is now focused on the problem of sexual violence. Michaluk appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark workplace privacy case R. v. Cole, and his blog, All About Information, has won two Canadian Law Blog Awards.

Jeffrey Oliver, Law’01, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP 
(Insolvency & Financial Restructuring)

Jeffrey Oliver is a Partner in Cassels Brock’s Restructuring & Insolvency Group who has extensive experience in detecting and prosecuting fraud actions, both within insolvency proceedings and in standard commercial litigation. Oliver recently played a leading role in the landmark appeal decision in Redwater, successfully defending the initial decision. He has volunteered for the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals to draft exam questions and also served on the INSOL Ian Fletcher Moot committee. Oliver has served as the president of the Board of Directors of ArtStarts In Schools.

Congratulations to all winners!