For Immediate Release
Feb. 24, 2008
OTTAWA – Susan McGrath of Iroquois Falls, Ont. has been named the 2008 winner of the Canadian Bar Association’s Douglas Miller Award. The award was presented at the CBA Mid-Winter Meeting of Council in Yellowknife, NWT on Feb. 24 by Mary Carol Miller, spouse of the late Doug Miller.
A sole practitioner from a small community in Northern Ontario and a mother of three, Susan McGrath is a leading advocate for increased funding for legal aid and a spokesperson for the needs of small-firm lawyers and sole practitioners in rural and remote communities.
“Susan is the embodiment of dedication to her profession, her community and to our Association,” said CBA President Bernard Amyot of Montreal. “Her tireless efforts before, during and since her term as CBA President have had a lasting impact on both lawyers and the public.”
A Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Ms. McGrath is an active CBA member. Prior to her term as CBA President in 2004-2005, she served as President of the Ontario Branch of the CBA in 1999-2000 and has occupied countless other leadership positions within the organizations over the past 25 years. Since serving as CBA President, Ms. McGrath has continued to bring her knowledge and leadership to key CBA advocacy initiatives in Canada and internationally, most notably as spokesperson for CBA’s legal aid test case. She was called to the Bar in 1979, two years after graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School. Susan McGrath received the Distinguished Service Award from the Ontario Branch in December 2007.
The Douglas Miller Award honours the late Doug Miller of Yellowknife, a former president of the Association’s Northwest Territories Branch and a very active CBA member who passed away in 1994. The award recognizes a CBA member who demonstrates outstanding dedication and team spirit.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 146; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
