NOVA SCOTIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA, September 30, 2011 – The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment:

The Honourable Michael J. Wood, a lawyer with Burchell Hayman Parish in Halifax, is appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in Halifax, to replace Mr. Justice C.R. Coughlan, who was transferred to Bridgewater to replace Madam Justice M.J. Stewart who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of June 7, 2011.

Mr. Justice Wood received a Bachelor of Sciences (B.Sc.) from Acadia University in 1978 and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Dalhousie University in 1982. He was admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1982 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1999.

Mr. Justice Wood has been a lawyer with Burchell Hayman Paris and predecessor firms since 1982. He has appeared before all levels of courts in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as well as the Federal Court and Supreme Court of Canada. His main areas of practice were commercial litigation, professional discipline, human rights, professional liability, administrative law, aboriginal rights, municipal law and employment law.

Mr. Justice Wood was an active member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. He was Chair of the Atlantic Committee and National Board Member of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute. He is past-president of the Canadian Bar Association’s Nova Scotia Construction and Administrative Law sections and a speaker at many regional and national conferences for numerous organizations, including the Canadian Bar Association, National Judicial Institute and Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals. Mr. Justice Wood was a lecturer at Dalhousie University for the faculties of Law and Dentistry. He was an executive member of the Atlantic division of the Canadian Canoe Association and Atlantic Basketball Association.

This appointment is effective immediately.

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Ref.:

• Pamela Stephens
  Press Secretary
  Office of the Minister of Justice
  613-992-4621

• Media Relations
  Department of Justice
  613-957-4207