For Immediate Release
August 18, 2008
QUÉBEC CITY – The new President of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) says his priorities for the year ahead will include promoting the recommendations of the Report of the Task Force on Conflicts of Interest, protecting the rule of law from infringements both at home and abroad, and continuing to make the CBA a welcoming place for francophones jurists.
“Our report on Conflicts of Interest suggests practical solutions to deal with a troubling ethical issue that has become the elephant in the law office,” says Guy Joubert of Winnipeg. “The report’s analytical and thoroughly-researched approach will put all lawyers – from large firms and small, rural and urban practice as well as in-house counsel – at the leading edge in dealing with conflicts of interest.”
The task force released its findings on August 16 at the CBA’s Canadian Legal Conference. The report makes 21 recommendations that provide a principled approach to identifying and managing potential conflicting interests in law firms, so as to better serve clients.
http://www.cba.org/conflicts
The CBA has been outspoken in defence of the rule of law – most notably in the case of Canadian Omar Khadr, who remains imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. “We continue to call for his immediate repatriation. It remains a question of respect for the rule of law, so our stance must be unequivocal,” says Guy Joubert.
Mr. Joubert, who receives the chain of office at the CBA’s Canadian Legal Conference in Québec City on Aug. 19, is also committed to increasing francophone participation in the CBA.
A Franco-Manitoban, Guy Joubert was born and raised in Western Canada and is the first francophone outside Quebec to lead the CBA. “For the first time ever, the CBA will have two francophone presidents serving successive terms. Our national leadership now clearly reflects the welcome that CBA offers to French and English-speaking jurists across Canada,” he says.
A partner with Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP, Guy Joubert practises primarily in the area of intellectual property. He has been a member of the CBA for approximately 22 years. Guy Joubert was active in the Manitoba Branch on committees and Council and he was elected Branch President in 1996-97. He served nationally on the Membership Committee, Board of Directors, Organizing Committees of the 1995 and 2004 Annual Meetings and most recently as Chair of the Communications Committee. He was awarded the 2004 Louis St. Laurent Award of Excellence for distinguished service to the CBA.
A graduate of University of Manitoba (B.A., 1983), Guy Joubert received his LL.B. from University of Manitoba in 1987. He was admitted to the Manitoba Bar in 1988. His volunteer activities included the Festival du Voyageur, Winnipeg Arts Council and the Adjudication Panel for the League for Human Rights “Media Human Rights Awards” of B’Nai Brith Canada.
Guy Joubert receives the CBA Presidential Chain of Office from outgoing President Bernard Amyot at the Canadian Legal Conference Closing Lunch on Tuesday, Aug. 19 in Room 2000A in the Quebec City Convention Centre. The event is open to accredited media who have registered with CBA Communications, located in Room 2103 in the Quebec City Convention Centre, or by phone at 418-649-5218.
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, Aug. 15-19, Québec City Convention Centre, Room 2103, Tel: 418-649-5218; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
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