2021 Annual Report
Awards, Reports & 2020 Meeting Minutes
2020-2021 Awards
2020 Distinguished Service Award
John Rafferty QC - 2020 DSA Recipient
John Rafferty QC of Truro, NS was the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Service Award (DSA).
Established in 1999, this award is presented to a member who has made significant contributions to their community, the legal profession and to the Society.
We typically present this award and honour the recipient along with 50-year practitioners at our annual Recognition Reception. We did not hold this reception in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
About John Rafferty QC
Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, John moved to Nova Scotia for his Bachelor of Arts at Saint Mary’s University. He followed his BA with a year of graduate studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario before returning to Saint Mary’s University for his Bachelor of Education. John taught math for little over a year before he decided to pursue law. He earned his law degree from Dalhousie University and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1977.
Throughout his career, John has contributed significantly to his community, the legal profession and to the Society. He has been with Burchell MacDougall for over 40 years and has developed a well-earned reputation as a knowledgeable, competent, and ethical lawyer with high professional integrity. In 1995, John received his Queen’s Counsel designation.
John has a long history of service to his profession including as a member of the Society’s Council from 1990-1993 and 1997-2001. For 15 years, he was the Director and Past Chair of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Liability Claims Fund. He was also a member and Chair of the Loss Prevention Committee and of the Nova Scotia Bar Admissions Course Committee. John was the Director of Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association from 1983-2003 and he has also been a member of the Canadian Bar Association since 1975 having served on the CBA Standing Committee on Equality from 1994-1997.
Over the years, John has worked actively in party politics both at the federal and provincial levels. He has lectured and presented at CLE events and for Bar Admission courses and has authored many learned articles distributed by the Society and the Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association. He is also frequently engaged by the Society to act on its behalf in practice reviews and receiverships, and on behalf of LIANS in defence of professional liability claims.
A leader within his community, John was previously the solicitor for the Town of Truro. He founded the Truro East End Meals on Wheels program, was the founding director of Colchester Community Workshops Foundation and a founding president for The Dimas Society, operators of Lavers House, a halfway house for ex-offenders. He spearheads many community activities and has dedicated his time to the Truro District School Band Auxiliary, Truro & District Human Rights and Affirmative Action Committee, Truro Boys and Girls Club and Truro Tennis Club.
2021 NSBS President’s Leadership Award
A special congratulations to the 2021 recipient of the NSBS President’s Leadership Award Mukisa Kakembo! Mukisa was also the recipient of the Society’s 2020 Race and the Law Essay Prize.
The NSBS President’s Leadership Award emphasizes the importance of leadership in a lawyer’s career and honours the exemplary volunteer commitment and leadership of Past Presidents to the work of the Society.
Established by Past Presidents Philip J. Star QC and Catherine S. Walker QC, the award is presented each year at the Schulich School of Law to a graduating student who, in the eyes of the teaching faculty, has “exemplified consistent leadership qualities while at law school.”
“As a woman working in the field of social justice this recognition is very meaningful to me. Winning this award shows me that feminist and racial justice work is valued and appreciated. I am truly honoured! ”
Mukisa Kakembo, 2021 President’s Leadership Award Recipient
2021 Race and the Law Essay Prize
A special congratulations to our 2021 Race and the Law Essay Prize recipient, Maeve McCabe for her paper “Black Femininity and the Erasure of African Nova Scotian Women and their Victimhood in Our Criminal Justice System.”
This award recognizes and encourages outstanding scholarship by law students in Nova Scotia, on topics pertaining specifically to issues of race and law. The Society’s Racial Equity Committee presents the award and Stewart McKelvey sponsors the award.
“I am deeply passionate about issues of intersectional social and legal justice, and the stories and issues facing African Nova Scotian women, specifically in navigating our justice system, are often underrepresented. I’m humbled and so appreciative of being given the opportunity to explore and share my perspective on a small area of this important topic through this contest!”
Reports & 2020 Meeting Minutes
2021 Monitoring Reports
These monitoring reports, provided to the Society’s Council & included in Council Meeting Packages, provide an overview of the responsibilities & work of the Education & Credentials, Equity & Access and Professional Responsibility departments.
Law Foundation of Nova Scotia Annual Report
The Law Foundation of Nova Scotia was established in 1976 by amendment to the Barristers and Solicitors Act (now the Legal Profession Act. 2004, c. 28, s. 1.). Its central purpose is to receive and distribute interest earned on lawyers’ pooled trust accounts in accordance with its mandate. It is the only foundation in Nova Scotia devoted solely to community law related initiatives and legal education.
The objects of the Law Foundation are “to establish and maintain a fund to be used for the examination, research, revision and reform of and public access to the law, legal education, the administration of justice in the Province and other purposes incidental or conducive to or consequential upon the attainment of any such objects.”
2020 Annual Meeting Minutes
The 2020 Annual Meeting minutes will be approved at the 2021 Annual Meeting.