Ethical Advocacy: A Judges’ Panel

Justice Jennifer Mackinnon was appointed to the Superior Court of Justice in 1999. She sits in the Family Court in Ottawa. She is the local administrative judge for the Ottawa Family Court and has held that position for more than six of the years that she has been on the bench. Justice Mackinnon has a strong track record in judicial and legal education. Combined, she has more than 100 articles and presentations on family law topics. Her articles have been published in the Canadian Family Law Quarterly, the Advocates Quarterly and the Reports of Family Law. She has been invited to present on family law topics for the National Judicial Institute, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Advocates Society, the Ontario Bar Association and the Federation of Canadian Law Societies, amongst others. Justice Mackinnon was a member of the Federal Government Advisory Committee on the Child Support Guidelines and the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, from 1997 to 2007, and was a member of the Ontario Family Law Rules Committee, 1990 – 1999, during the development of the current Family Law Rules. Locally she has lectured at the Bar Admission Course, the University of Ottawa Law School and is a frequent speaker at County of Carleton Law Association programs. Her recent initiatives include the Ottawa Family Court Coordinated Case Management Project for high conflict custody and access cases, an Ontario wide annual Family Law Negotiation Competition, scheduled to commence in 2015, as an adjunct to the Walsh Cup Moot, and an east Region Consultation process aimed at identifying local measures to contribute to the implementation of the National Access to Family Justice Committee Report. She is a graduate of Queen’s University law school, called to the Ontario Bar in 1978, and former partner in the Ottawa law firm, Burke-Robertson LLP.