2011 Distinguished Service Award: Robert G. MacKeigan QC

Awards and congratulatory messages

The Society is pleased to announce that Robert (Robbie) G. MacKeigan QC has received the 2011 Distinguished Service Award. President Daniel M. Campbell QC made the presentation at the special 2011 Recognition Reception, held after Council on Friday, September 23.

Admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1970, Mr. MacKeigan was recently appointed Counsel to Stewart McKelvey, effective September 1, 2011. He is recognized nationally as a leading practitioner in the areas of corporate and commercial law, with an emphasis on banking, insolvency law and financial restructuring, and also as a leader in U.S./Canada cross-border corporate law. A founding member of the Insolvency Institute of Canada, he was made a fellow of the Institute in 2008.

Mr. MacKeigan is the current chair of the Law Foundation of Nova Scotia, and a past Chair of the Canadian Law Information Council, past President of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society (1994-95), and past President of the Canadian Bar Association - Nova Scotia. Since 1980, he has been a volunteer lawyer for the Girl Guides of Canada, Nova Scotia Council, and his community service has also included serving as a Founding Director of the Atlantic Breast Cancer Foundation, Vice-President of the Halifax YMCA, and on many boards and associations, from the John Howard Society to the Alzheimer’s Society of Nova Scotia. 

Established in 1999, the Distinguished Service Award is presented to a practising member of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society who has made significant contributions to the community, the legal profession and the Society. Past recipients include R. Lorne MacDougall QC, Ronald Downie QC, Harry Wrathall QC, Roberta Clarke QC, Catherine Walker QC, Robert L. Barnes QC, Bruce MacIntosh QC, Daniel Campbell QC and the late Innis M. Christie QC. The most recent award was presented to Anne Malick QC in 2010.

Several other achievements were also honoured at the 2011 Recognition Reception:

  • Presentation of 50-Year Practising Certificates: to David Stewart QC and George Caines QC.
  • The 2011 NSBS Presidents' Leadership Award: Presented to a graduating law student, this annual award recognizes substantial involvement in the law school and community. Daniel Pink is currently articling with Wickwire Holm and coordinates volunteer lawyers for the new legal support group, Artists Legal Information Services.
  • The 2011 Race and the Law Paper Prize: David Taylor received the third annual prize, sponsored by Stewart McKelvey, for his paper, "First Peoples, Fundamental Rights: Exploring the Potential Use of Section 7 Rights by Aboriginal Claimants." Now in his third year at Schulich School of Law, David will be a clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2012-13.