2012
See this year's list of inductees.
Common Law Honour Society - 2012 Inductees
Hon. Lee K. Ferrier, LL.B. 1962
The Honourable Lee K. Ferrier currently works as a mediation and arbitration specialist at Neeson Arbitration Chambers in Toronto.
After graduating from the Faculty of Law in 1962, Mr. Ferrier became a partner in the firm of MacDonald and Ferrier from 1965 to 1986 and subsequently with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt when the two firms merged. While in practice, he was certified by the Law Society as a Specialist in Civil Litigation. In 1991, he was appointed as a judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, where he served for 20 years.
Mr. Ferrier was a founding member of the Advocates’ Society in 1965, and the first uOttawa law graduate elected Treasurer of Law Society of Upper Canada, in 1988. He has also served as chair of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Ontario Family Law Section, the chair of the National Family Law Section and served on numerous committees, including for 10 years, as a member of the National Council of the CBA.
2012 marks the 50th anniversary of his graduation from law school.
Janice Payne, LL.B. 1974
Janice Payne is a partner at Nelligan O'Brien Payne, in Ottawa, where she has worked since her call to the Bar in 1976.
Ms. Payne is recognized across Canada as one of the leading employment law lawyers in the country, specializing in the non-unionized employment market. Under her leadership, Nelligan O’Brien Payne has represented groups in a number of high-profile insolvency matters. Throughout her career, she has also been at the forefront of the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution strategies.
In 2001, Ms. Payne was honoured for her pioneering role in the legal profession by the Women’s Law Association of Ontario, in recognition of her contributions to law, women in the profession, and to the community. She was later selected by her peers in law for the 2006 to 2013 editions of The Best Lawyers in Canada for Labour and Employment Law. In 2008, she was awarded the Businesswoman of the Year award, Professional Category, by the Women’s Business Network.
Recently, Ms. Payne has been participating in initiatives to raise awareness of mental illness, joining Women for Mental Health, a program of the Royal Ottawa Foundation.
André Marin, LL.B. 1989
André Marin was first appointed Ombudsman of Ontario in 2005, and was reappointed for a second five-year term in 2010. He is Ontario’s sixth Ombudsman.
Mr. Marin graduated from the Common Law National Program in 1989 after earning his civil law degree at the Faculty of Law in 1988. He worked as an Assistant Crown Attorney in Ottawa before becoming the Director of the Special Investigations Unit of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General in 1996. He subsequently served as Canada’s first Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces, beginning in 1998.
As Ontario’s Ombudsman, Mr. Marin has focused his office’s resources on high-profile, systemic investigations into issues that affect millions of Ontarians, several of which have resulted in dramatic government reforms. His reorganization of the Ombudsman’s office and its investigative teams has produced a model sought out by watchdog agencies from across Canada and around the world.
In 2011, Mr. Marin received the Order of Merit from the University of Ottawa’s Civil Law Section, and earlier in 2012 he was honoured with the Ontario Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award and the Canadian Bar Association’s John Tait Award of Excellence for public service.
