Three Federal Court Judges Appointed

Three new Federal Court judges were appointed today: Honourable Henry S. Brown (of Gowlings), Honourable Keith M. Boswell (of Stewart McKelvey) and Honourable Alan Diner (Baker & McKenzie). These judges are replacing Justice Snider, who resigned in October 2013, Justice Harrington who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of April 2014 and Justice O’Keefe, who elected to become a supernumerary judge. Judicial appointments were also made today to the Ontario, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Alberta courts, including Justice Mainville, formerly of the Federal Court of Appeal, to the Quebec Court of Appeal.

The Department of Justice announced today’s appointments which includes longer biographies of each new appointment.

  • Honourable Henry Brown worked at Gowlings (Ottawa) from 1981 until his retirement in April 2014, including as part of the firms Supreme Court of Canada service group. He is being appointed to replace Justice Harrington who elected to become a supernumerary judge as of April 2014.
  • Honourable Keith Boswell worked at Stewart McKelvey (Charlottetown) practising in business law, corporate law and commercial law. He is being appointed, effective June 30, 2014 to replace Justice O’Keefe who elected to become a supernumerary judge.
  • Honourable Alan Diner worked at Baker & McKenzie LLP (Toronto) in the area of immigration law. He is being appointed to replace Justice Snider, who resigned as of October 2013. Justice Snider was honoured yesterday for her contribution to the Federal Court and intellectual property in Canada at the annual Judges Dinner of the OBA Intellectual Property National Section.

Appointments were also made today to the courts in Ontario (Chief Justice appointment) Saskatchewan (1 appointment), Quebec (4 appointments, including Justice Mainville who has been a member of the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal since 2009), Nova Scotia (2 appointments) and Alberta (2 appointments).