Law Times

Law times • SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 NEWS PAGE 3 Nancy Brooks learned the profession from the best H BY ROBERT TODD Law Times lawyer Nancy Brooks says she has ever asked herself, yet her journey in the profession has quickly wound from the top of her graduating class, while raising two young boys, to the office of the chief justice of Canada and a spot beside the top lawyers in the country. Brooks, a partner at Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP's Ottawa office, grew up in Windsor until age 12, when her family crossed the province to live in Ottawa. Her father, who recently passed away, owned and oper- ated a Chinese restaurant in Ot- tawa, and Brooks recalls working in the restaurant from a young age. She credits her toil there for developing a strong work ethic. She specifically recalls being It's not a question Ottawa ow can you get there if you don't know where you're going? "I'm very thrilled to have been named one of the com- mission counsel by Justice Oli- phant," says Brooks, adding she's excited to work with lead commission counsel Richard Wolson and fellow commission counsel Evan Roitenberg. "We're just getting up and Ottawa's Nancy Brooks has never chased specific goals in her career, but she has accom- plished much. her organizational skills. "I just found that it was an paid the "paltry sum" of about $1 an hour to work at the restaurant. "But I never saw the money; it was just tallied up on a sheet," she says, adding it was difficult to draw down on the tally for any- thing as simple as a movie, as her father planned to use the money for her university tuition. The work ethic she devel- oped certainly came in handy, particularly for someone who entered the legal profession as a second career. Brooks worked in Canada's nuclear industry at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. for 17 years, embarking in that industry at the Chalk River re- actor physics group. By the time she left AECL, Brooks had become the director of business opportunities. She caught the legal bug, however, through literature. (She specifi- cally remembers a biography of British Law Lord Tom Denning.) "I just thought it would be an enjoyable experience," she says, likely to the chagrin of other lawyers who clawed their way into the profession. She ended up graduating with a silver medal and went on to clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada for now-Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin. (She admits to being un- aware at the time that she was chosen to the high-profile po- sition thanks in part to a let- ter of recommendation by the dean of her law faculty.) Brooks fondly recalls her time at the country's top court in 1994 and 1995, particularly in terms of working for McLachlin, whom she describes as "one of the top legal minds in the country." "Justice McLachlin was a Brooks' legal acumen, she was appointed legal counsel in July to Justice Jeffrey Oliphant's commission of inquiry into certain allegations respecting business and financial dealings between Karlheinz Schreiber and former prime minister Brian Mulroney. In another tip of the hat to running. I expect it will be a very rewarding mandate, be- cause I expect that . . . it'll be interesting to work with Justice Oliphant and I'm sure that all of us will benefit from it." The report from that inquiry is scheduled to be delivered to the government no later than June 12, 2009, and is sure to be just one more in an expand- ing list of impressive experi- ences on Brooks' resumé. But, considering how much she's accomplished, some may be surprised to know that — contrary to much of the business self-help literature — Brooks has never chased specific goals in her career. "I've never plotted out where I'm going to be five years into my career, or 10 years," she says. "I work hard and I try to do a very good job. And I expect the opportunities I've had in the past to continue." LT This is the fourth in our Women in Law series that is running in Law Times, featuring profiles of female lawyers from around the province. Arbour running for Liberals? BY ROBERT TODD Law Times interesting and rewarding thing to do — to switch careers," she says, adding it was difficult to leave a career she loved. "I always felt when I worked at AECL that if you did a good job and were interested you could get ahead and get more interesting positions, and that certainly was my experience there," she says, adding she found her colleagues to be great people to work with, who had a high level of integrity. But she found it difficult to deal with the uncertainty sur- rounding AECL funding, and wanted more control over her career destiny. Ottawa's common law school in 1991, Brooks was immediately drawn to her new profession. "I just thought it was a fas- cinating subject area," she says, noting it was "interesting" to be in the mix with students much younger than herself. But, unlike her new peers, Arriving at the University of Brooks was raising two young boys — one four and one six — at the time she entered law school, and was doing so on her own, having parted with her first husband. Thankfully her years as a top-notch work- ing professional had honed very good mentor. She has her very direct approach," says Brooks. "She has a very distinc- tive writing style. I think for all of us working for her, we had a chance to learn how to write better. Learn how the judicial process works, how judicial thinking works. For young law- yers, as we all were, it was just a very rewarding experience." On top of learning about the profession from the best, Brooks also enjoyed the ca- maraderie she developed with some of the top students from across the country, who also were clerks of the court. "We had an a cappella choir that was led by one of my chamber mates, Nick McHaff- ie, who now is a lawyer across the street at Stikeman Elliott [LLP]," says Brooks. "At lunch time we would have these practices of singing four-part harmony. It was just a lot of fun. We had a great es- prit de corps, I would say." Brooks went to Blakes fol- lowing her clerkship at the top court and became an associate at the firm after being called to the bar in 1996, but almost immediately became pregnant with her third child. Mundell_LT_Sep8_08.qxd 9/3/08 9:56 AM Page 1 ormer Supreme Court of Canada justice Louise Arbour seems primed to take on a new role in shaping public policy, hop- ing to write laws rather than interpret them as a Liberal member of Parliament. A Liberal spokesman acknowledges rumours suggesting Arbour will run in the next federal election as a Liberal. But Daniel Lauzon says he can't confirm the reports. "I don't have any confirmation on that . . . so right now they're just rumours," he tells Law Times at press time. "What I can say is that the Liberal party has a tremendous amount of respect for Ms. Arbour and her distinguished career both domestically and internationally." Arbour, a Montreal native, earlier this year ended a stint as the United Nations human rights commissioner, a role she took on in 2004. Her apparent choice to delve into the world of politics won't surprise some commentators. Many F saw it coming in June when Treasury Board Presi- dent and Conservative MP Vic Toews called Ar- bour a "disgrace." The comment, which came shortly after Arbour's UN retirement announce- ment, was in relation to her stance toward Israel. In 2006, Arbour suggested during the Lebanon war that innocent civilian deaths in that country and Israel could be considered war crimes. Liberal MP and lawyer Martha Hall Findlay challenged Toews over the remark, and said the former justice minister was speaking out of con- text on the matter. and went on to several positions including associ- ate dean of Osgoode Hall Law School. She was appointed a judge of the then-Supreme Court of Ontario in 1987, before moving on to the On- tario Court of Appeal in 1990. In 1996, Arbour broke on to the world stage as chief prosecutor of war crimes at the Interna- tional Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. She was appointed to the Su- preme Court of Canada in 1999. Arbour was called to the Ontario bar in 1977, LT The CHRIS BENTLEY Attorney General of Ontario DAVID W. MUNDELL Medal The Honourable Warren K. Winkler Chair The David W. Mundell Medal is awarded annually to the Ontario writer on legal and pro- fessional matters who has, by publication in the preceding year or over a period of years, made a distinguished contribution to law and letters. Selection Committee for the David W. Mundell Medal "I joke about it, but my part- ners did take it with very good grace," she says. "I came in for a couple of months, then I went off on six months' maternity." She has been with Blakes ever since, minus a leave of absence from 2004 to 2007 to serve as ex- ecutive legal officer to McLach- lin. She's now returned to build- ing her administrative law and commercial litigation practice. serve as chairman of the selection committee for this award. Osgoode Hall 130 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N5 CHRIS BENTLEY Attorney General of Ontario www.lawtimesnews.com The Honourable Warren K. Winkler, Chief Justice of Ontario, has graciously agreed to Nominations of candidates for this award are invited. Please note that the broad terms of reference for the award encompass all classes of writers - legal practitioners, academics, and others. Candidates nominated for previous competi- tions may be renominated. A nomination should include a list of the nominee's published writings and one representative sample only from that list, and be sent to the selection committee by October 31, 2008.

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