Photo courtesy of Law Society of Upper Canada. LLD honoree John Sims, QC, Law'71, is congratulated by his hooder, former Chief Justice of Ontario Roy McMurtry. Looking on is then-LSUC Treasurer Tom Conway, who presided at the Call to the Bar ceremony in Ottawa on June 23.
Photo courtesy of Law Society of Upper Canada. LLD honoree John Sims, QC, Law'71, is congratulated by his hooder, former Chief Justice of Ontario Roy McMurtry. Looking on is then-LSUC Treasurer Tom Conway, who presided at the Call to the Bar ceremony in Ottawa on June 23.
Photo by Geoff Robins. David Smye, QC, Law’70, signs the LLD register with LSUC Treasurer Thomas Conway and LSUC CEO Robert Lapper, QC, at the Call to the Bar ceremony in London on June 16.
Photo by Geoff Robins. David Smye, QC, Law’70, signs the LLD register with LSUC Treasurer Thomas Conway and LSUC CEO Robert Lapper, QC, at the Call to the Bar ceremony in London on June 16.

John Sims, QC, Law’71, and David Smye, QC, Law’70, received honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees from the Law Society of Upper Canada at its Call to the Bar ceremonies in June.

Sims, a former Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, 2004-2010, was recognized for his “highly distinguished” public service career. At the forefront of many important Canadian legal initiatives, he has argued Charter of Rights and Freedoms cases, helped develop laws to protect refugees, was the Canadian Security Intelligence Service’s first lawyer, and worked on denaturalizing and deporting war criminals. “At one point I led the whole operation against war crimes,” he told QLR. “It was interesting, demanding, slow and hard, but worthy work.”

The LSUC honour was not Sims’ first. He received 2010’s Outstanding Achievement Award of the Public Service of Canada, presented by the Prime Minister, and 2005’s John Tait Award of Excellence for public sector lawyers from the Canadian Bar Association (for which he now chairs the Access to Justice Committee).

Sims has found his 30-plus years in public service very rewarding. “You get a chance to make a difference. We were working on things that mattered to Canadians, whether it was reforming the law or balancing rights.”

At the LSUC ceremony, he told graduates that one of law’s great rewards is that it’s always evolving, that character and integrity matter, and that they should give back and not be afraid to ask for help.

Asked about his Queen’s mentors, Sims paid tribute to late professors Bernie Adell, Ron Delisle and Innis Christie. “Under them and others I learned to think like a lawyer: you can’t sit on the fence, you can’t waffle, you must make decisions, and you have to give helpful advice to a client.”

David Smye, a partner at Mackesy Smye LLP in Hamilton, was cited for his extraordinary advocacy skills, judgment and integrity, as well as his dedication and contributions to the legal profession and the Hamilton community.

As a 42-year personal injury lawyer, Smye says one of his most satisfying cases was acting for the family of a 16-year-old boy who suffered profound brain damage when doctors ignored his fever and seizures. Smye urged the graduating lawyers to master each case’s subject material by hiring experts rather than simply doing their own online research. “Nothing is more important than absolute preparedness.”

In 2007, he received the Hamilton Law Association’s Edward Orzel Award honouring career excellence in trial advocacy. He is also known as a community activist, particularly for his role in organizing the annual charity golf event ‘100 Holes for Haiti’ that has raised more than $800,000 for two Haitian orphanages over the past 11 years.

Smye credits his “burning love for law” to his “incredible” Queen’s Law professors Bernie Adell, Innis Christie, Richard Gosse, Bill Lederman and Dan Soberman – all now deceased, but “all icons in their respective fields,” he says.

John Sims and David Smye are now becoming iconic figures themselves.