Common Law is pleased to announce that Perry Dellelce (LL.B. 1990), Alan D'Silva (J.D. 1987), Vahan Kololian (LL.B. 1979), Anne Levesque (LL.B. 2007), Chief Justice Lise Maisonneuve (LL.B. 1989) will be inducted into the Common Law Honour Society at the annual Orientation Welcoming Luncheon on September 2, 2015.
2015
These five individuals have used their legal education as a foundation for the achievement of great success in their chosen professions. They join a distinguished list of prior inductees, which can be viewed here.
About the inductees
Perry Dellelce (LL.B. 1990)
Perry Dellelce is a founder and Managing Partner of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, one of Canada’s leading corporate finance law firms. He practises in the areas of securities, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. Perry has been recognized as one of Canada’s leading practitioners in the areas of technology transactions in the 2012-2014 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directories.
Mr. Dellelce received his B.A. from Western University, his MBA from the University of Notre Dame and his L.L.B. from the University of Ottawa. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1992.
Mr. Dellelce has served on the boards of directors of various corporations and various charitable and not-for-profit organizations, including: Chair, Board of Directors of Sunnybrook Foundation; Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa; Business Advisory Council, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame; Board of Directors, Canadian Olympic Foundation; and Board of Directors of Canada newest stock exchange, the Aequitas NEO Exchange Inc.
Mr. Dellelce has also received many awards and recognitions for his community service, including: The Albert Citation and Purple and White Award, Western University; Distinguished Alumni Award for the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame; and Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario Business Excellence Award, Community Building Award.
Vahan Kololian (LL.B. 1979)
After completing his LL.B. at the University of Ottawa in 1979, and being called to the Bar in Ontario in 1981, Mr. Kololian joined the Corporate Finance/Investment Banking Group of Burns Fry (today BMO Nesbitt Burns). As a Partner and Director at Burns Fry and subsequently Gordon Capital, Vahan led transactions in public financing and M&A. In the early 1990’s Vahan turned towards venture capital and private equity, the investment area in which he directs TerraNova Partners today. He currently serves as TerraNova’s Managing Partner and also sits on various for-profit and not-for-profit boards of directors.
Vahan is engaged in community projects in education, healthcare, and the promotion of diversity in business and government. His interests include human rights and nation building projects in developing countries, in particular, Armenia. A passion of Vahan’s is conflict resolution relating to geopolitical conflicts, which led him to co-found the Mosaic Institute. He and his family have also established a scholarship at the University of Ottawa Law School for two international LL.M. candidates to be recruited from conflicting regions of the world.
Anne Levesque (LL.B. 2007)
Anne graduated from the French Common Law Program in 2007 and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2008. She is currently co-director of the Law Practice Program at the University of Ottawa, where she helped create and implement an innovative experiential learning program for law school graduates aiming to help them develop practical skills, foster community involvement and promote access to justice in French.
Anne is also a human rights lawyer who has worked with a wide range of equality seeking groups, legal clinics and not-for-profit organisations on test case litigation, interventions, appeals and law reform initiatives. She has been involved in litigating many issues of national importance such as the cut of the long-form census, Canadian liability for extraterritorial torture, equality in reproductive health, and the intimidation of dissenters by government. She is a strong supporter of the I am a Witness Campaign and is particularly proud to be one of the lawyers representing the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada in its historic human rights complaint filed with the Assembly of First Nations against the Government of Canada for providing discriminatory child welfare services to over 163 000 First Nations children living on reserve and for its failure to implement Jordan’s Principle. Anne is currently the Co-Chair of the National Association of Women and the Law, Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and a member of the Board of Directors of the Court Challenges Program of Canada.
Anne taught Equality Law as a part-time professor for the University of Ottawa’s French Common Law Program and, as a Ricard Foundation Scholar, is currently completing her masters in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford.
Lise Maisonneuve (LL.B. 1989)
The Honourable Lise Maisonneuve was appointed Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice effective May 4, 2015. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in 2003 and presided over criminal matters in the Ottawa area for 12 years, rising to the role of Regional Senior Judge, East Region in 2011 and then Associate Chief Judge of the Ontario Court of Justice in 2013, where she distinguished herself as a leader and innovator, responsible for court initiatives related to court modernization, judicial education, public legal education and addressing criminal court delay, among many others.
Chief Justice Maisonneuve graduated from the University of Ottawa Law School and was called to the Bar in 1991. Before joining the judiciary, she was a partner with the Ottawa firm of Carroll, Wallace and Maisonneuve, where she practiced criminal law. She was also a member of the Oversight Working Group for the Department of National Defence; Advisor to the Military Police and Investigative Services Reorganization Steering Committee and to the Military Police Services Review Group; Advisor to the Minister of National Defence’s Committee on Change in the Department of National Defence and Special Legal Advisor to the late Chief Justice of Canada Brian Dickson on various military investigations.
Alan D'Silva (J.D. 1987)
Alan D'Silva completed his law degree at the University of Ottawa in 1987 and is currently a senior partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto. Mr D'Silva has a diverse commercial litigation practice and is considered a leading litigation lawyer in Canada with expertise in a number of areas of law, including class actions, securities law and directors' and officers' liability.
Mr. D'Silva has extensive advocacy experience and has appeared before all levels of court, including appellate courts across Canada and ten cases in the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also appeared before various administrative tribunals and has acted as a mediator, arbitrator and an expert witness in Canadian courts.
Mr. D'Silva is listed and recognized for his expertise in many Canadian and international legal, professional and peer review publications including Chambers, Lexpert, Benchmark Canada and The Best Lawyers in Canada. He has served as an adjunct professor at three law schools (Ottawa, Toronto and Western). He also took time out of private practice to serve as Legal Counsel at the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Mr. D'Silva has been a board member, committee member and volunteer of various charitable or non-profit organizations. He is also founder and co-founder of several university scholarships.