ONTARIO JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA, June 1, 2012 – 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 appointments:

The Honourable Thomas A. Heeney, a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, is appointed Regional Senior Judge of the Southwest Region, to replace Mr. Justice E.W. Ducharme (London), who was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario on April 5, 2012.

Mr. Justice Heeney received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario in 1977 and was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1980.

Prior to his appointment to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 1998, he was a partner with Mandryk and Heeney in Tillsonburg, Ontario. His main area of practice was general litigation.

Mr. Justice Heeney has served as the Local Administrative Justice for Woodstock and St. Thomas, as well as for Stratford and Goderich.  He has been a member of the Canadian Judges’ Association Conduct Review Committee and Technology Committee.

The Honourable Robert F. Goldstein, a lawyer with Public Prosecution Service of Canada, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, to replace Mr. Justice D. Grace, who will be transferred to London to replace Mr. Justice W.U. Tausendfreund, who will be transferred to Kingston to replace Mr. Justice D.M. Belch, who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of March 30, 2012.

Mr. Justice Goldstein received a Bachelor of Arts in 1985 and a Master of Arts in International Relations in 1994 from the University of Toronto. He received a Bachelor of Laws from McGill University in 1988 and was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1990.

Mr. Justice Goldstein has been a lawyer with the Department of Justice since 1990. He practised with the Civil Litigation Section of the Ontario Regional Office from 1990 to 1992, and the War Crimes Unit and Criminal Justice Review Committee from 1997 to 1999, before joining the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003. His main area of practice was criminal and quasi-criminal law.

Mr. Justice Goldstein is a serving officer in the Queen’s York Rangers. He took a military leave from August 2009 to December 2010 and served in occupied Afghanistan.  He has given lectures and authored numerous legal papers. He has been active with the Avenue Road Hockey Association and the United Way.

The Honourable Ian F. Leach, a lawyer with Lerners LLP in London, is appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice (Woodstock), to replace Mr. Justice T.A. Heeney, who was appointed Regional Senior Justice for the Southwest Region.

Mr. Justice Leach received a Bachelor of Arts (English and Economics) from Trinity College, University of Toronto, in 1983; a Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University in 1986; a Master of Laws from St. John’s College, Cambridge University, in 1987; and a Bachelor of Civil Laws from University College, Oxford University, in London in 1989. He was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1991.

Mr. Justice Leach has been a lawyer with Lerners LLP in London since 1991. His main area of practice was civil litigation.

Mr. Justice Leach was a member of the Advocates Society, Canadian Bar Association, Ontario Bar Association and Middlesex Law Association. He was an adjunct professor at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law from 1991 to 2000. He was Chair of continuing advocacy and practice education at Lerners LLP and a mentor to the firm’s articling students. He has been a speaker and presenter at numerous seminars for the Canadian Institute, Niagara Region Insurance Brokers and Middlesex Law Association.   He has authored articles on the subject of class actions. He was a mentor in the Big Brothers program and a long-time member of the Mocha Shriners, fundraising for children’s hospitals.

These appointments are effective immediately.

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