For Immediate Release
August 13, 2007
CALGARY - J. David O'Brien, Q.C., Vice-President of Risk Management, Pensions & Counsel for McCain Foods Ltd. in Florenceville, N.B., is this year's recipient of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association's (CCCA) Robert V.A. Jones Award. The award recognizes O'Brien's exceptional contribution to the development and promotion of the Canadian corporate counsel bar.
O'Brien, 57, has played an active leadership role with the CCCA since 1996. He served in a number of executive roles between 1996 and 2002, including New Brunswick Chapter President, Atlantic Regional Director on the CCCA's National Board of Directors, Chair of the Member Services Committee, National Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair, National Vice-President and National President. He was also instrumental in developing a new working arrangement between the CCCA and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) in 2005, and in the development of new CCCA bylaws in 2006-2007.
Since 1999, O'Brien has also served in a leadership capacity with the CBA, including sitting on the CBA's Board of Directors and Finance Committee. He is the Vice-Chair of the CBA's Special Committee on Member Retirement and Financial Services and acts as Director and Secretary for CBA Financial Services Corp.
O'Brien began working for McCain Foods Ltd. in 1990. Previously, he worked for Transair Ltd. in Winnipeg as counsel and corporate secretary from 1974 to 1977, and, in 1974, as counsel to the Canadian Transport Commission's Air Transport Committee in Ottawa.
He received his law degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1973, and was called to the bar the same year. O'Brien was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2002.
The Robert V. A. Jones Canadian Corporate Counsel Award is named after the founding Executive Director of the CCCA who built the organization over his 11-year tenure. The award will be presented at a ceremony taking place at 2:15 p.m. MDT on Tuesday, Aug. 14 in Calgary's Hyatt Hotel, site of the CCCA 19th Annual Meeting.
The CCCA Annual Meeting conference program focuses on the theme of Mavericks, Pioneers and Trailblazers: Harnessing Innovation and Leadership. It features workshops, keynote addresses and plenary sessions. Keynote speakers include Gail Asper, president of the CanWest Global Foundation and vice-president of CanWest Global Communications Corp., Andrea Mandel-Campbell, author of Why Mexicans Don't Drink Molson: Rescuing Canadian Companies from the Suds of Global Obscurity, Patrick O'Callaghan, managing partner of Patrick O'Callaghan and Associates and co-founder of Women on Board, and Rahul Sood, founder of Voodoo Computer Inc. and chief technology officer of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s global gaming business.
Established in 1988, the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association is a Conference of the CBA. Its mission is to provide a national forum and voice for in-house counsel to advance the development of their practice of law and enhance their professional skills and careers. The CCCA currently has a membership of more than 9,000.
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CONTACT: Silvie Kuppek, Executive Director, Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, Tel: (416) 869-0522 Fax: (416) 869-0946, E-mail: skuppek@ccca-cba.org; www.cancorpcounsel.org
Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Aug. 10-14,Telus Convention Centre, Glen 208 Room, 403-218-7856; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
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