Recipients of the 2025 Queen’s Law alumni awards: the Honourable J. David Wake, KC, Law’72, Christina Ackermann, Law’89, Kaisha Thompson, Law’16, and Daniel Brown, Law’04. (Photo by Greg Black Photography)
Recipients of the 2025 Queen’s Law alumni awards: the Honourable J. David Wake, KC, Law’72, Christina Ackermann, Law’89, Kaisha Thompson, Law’16, and Daniel Brown, Law’04. (Photo by Greg Black Photography)

With sunshine pouring over the city and a warm welcome inside The National Club, Queen’s Law graduates reconnected and celebrated at the annual alumni reception in Toronto’s financial district on June 4. More than 150 alumni gathered to honour the 2025 alumni award recipients and toast the school’s recent achievements.

“What stood out most was the enduring spirit of mentorship that defines the Queen’s Law community,” said Barry Appleton, Law’89, Managing Partner of Appleton & Associates International Lawyers LP and Distinguished Senior Fellow and Co-director of New York Law School’s Centre for International Law. “Reconnecting with fellow alumni reminded me of the profound influence of my own mentors – then-Dean John D. Whyte, Professor Donald Stuart, and Professor K. Venkata Raman – whose guidance shaped my commitment to law and public service.”

For Connie Reeve, Law’82, owner and mediator at Reeve Resolutions, it was the spirit of celebration that resonated most: “The pleasure the Queen’s alumni community took in celebrating the outstanding award winners, each of whom is a credit to the profession, really stood out to me.”

The four alumni awards, presented by Dean Colleen M. Flood – and by the Honourable Thomas Cromwell, Law’76, LLD’10, for the award named in his honour – recognized excellence across a range of achievements:

  • Daniel Brown, Law’04 – H.R.S. Ryan Law Alumni Award of Distinction (for overall distinction in the legal profession)
  • Kaisha Thompson, Law’16 – Dan Soberman Outstanding Young Alumni Award (for early-career success)
  • The Honourable J. David Wake, KC, Law’72 – Justice Thomas Cromwell Distinguished Public Service Award (for sustained and outstanding public service)
  • Christina Ackermann, Law’89 – J.A. (Alec) Corry Distinguished Alumni Award (for excelling in a career outside the traditional practice of law)

“I was especially moved by the reflections of this year’s alumni honorees, whose lived experiences and contributions continue to better our community and inspire the next generation of Queen’s lawyers,” said Appleton.

Dean Flood shared updates on several recent Queen’s Law milestones, including: the Queen’s Prison Law Clinic’s contributions to a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision on prison discipline; the appointment of Professor Ivan Ozai, a global tax expert, as the inaugural Faculty Scholar in Tax Law and Policy; and the school’s continued innovation in public legal education through the Graduate Diploma in Immigration and Citizenship Law, the undergraduate Certificate in Law program, and new professional certificates in areas ranging from AI and law to end-of-life law and Indigenous economic reconciliation.

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