Ten Queen’s graduates who are shining brightly on the Canadian legal landscape are included on Lexpert magazine’s annual list of “Rising Stars – Leading Lawyers Under 40.”
This prestigious honour celebrates young lawyers who have outstanding track records, are changemakers in the legal industry, are leaders in their communities, and are important contributors to the success of their firms and organizations.
The Queen’s grads who have earned this distinction are:
Greg Barker, Com’05
Barker is the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary for Canada Lands Company CLC Limited. He practised corporate and commercial real estate law before joining his current firm and now advises the company’s board and senior management on corporate governance matters and is responsible for legal and regulatory affairs.
Laura Bevan, Artsci'05
Bevan is a partner at Lawson Lundell LLP and head of the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution group in Vancouver and Kelowna. She advises clients in the gaming, banking, and securities industries. Bevan is also involved in the community through mentoring young lawyers and working with organizations such as ShEvalesco, a non-profit association that helps female and non-binary youth.
Heidi Gordon, Law'10
Gordon is a partner with McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Toronto. Her core practice involves advising on public and private mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and private equity transactions. She also regularly advises on general corporate, disclosure, and corporate governance matters.
Pam Hrick, Law’13
Hrick is the Executive Director & General Counsel at Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), a national organization that works toward ensuring the law guarantees equality for all women, girls, trans, and non-binary people. She previously clerked for fellow Queen’s graduate the Hon. Justice Thomas Cromwell, Artsci’73, Law’76, LLD’10, at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Emily Kirkpatrick, Artsci’04
Kirkpatrick is a partner with McEwan Partners with a focus on corporate, commercial, and class-action matters. She has experience working on a wide range of legal issues including shareholder disputes, class action defence, contract disputes, product liability, employment issues, and environmental matters.
Brian Kolenda, Law’10
Kolenda is a partner with Lenczner Slaght and former editor of the Queen's Law Journal. His civil litigation practice focuses on a wide range of disputes, from complex business disputes to civil fraud and from professional negligence to defamation. For many years, he assisted the Legal Aid Ontario's Refugee Law Office on behalf of clients seeking emergency stays of deportation.
Jamie-Lynn Kraft, Artsci’09
Kraft works for Smart & Biggar and is based in Ottawa. She focuses on trademark counselling, protecting intellectual property assets, and successfully represents clients in proceedings before the Canadian Trademark Opposition Board. She also provides advice on marketing and advertising law.
Amrita Singh, Law'12
Singh is a partner with Marks & Clerk. The intellectual property litigator advocates for inventors and creators. In addition to working on diversity initiatives with her firm, she mentors female and diverse junior lawyers and students. She also gives her time as a Queen’s University Council member.
Emily Ting, Law'10
Emily Ting is a partner and co-head of the business law group at Goodmans LLP. Her practice involves all aspects of corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. Ting also assists companies with their corporate governance and continuous disclosure obligations.
Christine Wadsworth, Artsci’10
Wadsworth is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s litigation group in Toronto. She focuses on commercial litigation, professional liability, internal investigations, and white collar defence. At Queen's, she was a Loran Scholar and a recipient of the Chancellor's Scholarship.
A version of this story first appeared on the Queen’s Faculty of Law website.
