On June 5, 2015, years of hard work, growing camaraderie and intellectual rigour culminated in a celebration for a new generation of Queen’s Law graduates.

As cloudy skies gave way to brilliant spring sunshine, family and friends joined faculty and staff in historic Grant Hall. They cheered on 180 JD, LLM and PhD students as they received their diplomas, and Professor Emeritus David Mullan, LLM’73, as he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

“I trust you will find inspiration for the careers awaiting you in what is a remarkable roll call of your predecessors,” Mullan said to the graduands in his address. “The list of their accomplishments should make us all proud to be members of this community – the current Governor General of Canada; justices at all levels of courts including the Supreme Court of Canada; the UN Special Prosecutor for the Lebanon. The list goes on!

“Consider seriously how you can pursue a career in law in which you are open to the centrality of process, a conception of the practice of law as a healing profession, and the place of lawyers in our democratic institutions be they federal, provincial, or local,” Mullan continued.    

Class representative Noah Leszcz emphasized the strong sense of community, a hallmark of Queen’s Law, in his address to the crowd. “We are not only classmates; we are, in a sense, a family,” he said. “The feeling of kinship at Queen’s Law has been transcendent. Our class is not the first one to feel like a family. The faculty and administration play an enormous role in cultivating this sense of community.”

Several awards were presented during the ceremony. Law Medals were given to graduates with the highest cumulative averages: Paul Warchuk, Connor Kense and Brandon Mattalo. Sean Coughlin, LSS President 2014-15, received the Dean’s Key for best embodying community values, collegiality, professionalism, service and academic excellence. Kevin Wiener accepted the Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award, the highest tribute paid to students for distinguished non-athletic service to the university.

Following the ceremony, the new graduates and their guests enjoyed a reception in Ban Righ Hall. There, Dean Flanagan presented the Dean’s Scholar Awards and a book on Sir John A. Macdonald to the graduates with the highest third-year averages: Paul Warchuk (Gold Scholar), Craig Zeeh (Silver Scholar), and Mandy Ng (Bronze Scholar).

Even though members of Law’15 are leaving Macdonald Hall to start the next stage of their legal careers, their bonds with the school and with each other will only strengthen with time.

"Alongside the feelings of pride, satisfaction and relief at the incredible accomplishment of completing our degrees and becoming lawyers, I am filled with a profound sadness to be parting from Queen’s, from Kingston, and from everyone here," said Leszcz. "I am consoled, however, knowing that we have established friendships that will last a lifetime."

For more photos, view the gallery on Facebook.