2026 ADVISORY BOARD
The CGCA Advisory Board is comprised of senior members of the Canadian bar, representing both in-house and private practice lawyers. The CGCA is dedicated to bringing together both a geographically and gender diverse board, knowledgeable about the many talented in-house counsel across Canada.
The board will meet to review nominations in all 10 categories and will vote by secret ballot to determine the award recipients.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient will be announced publicly following the meeting, while the results of all other categories be revealed at the CGCA gala.
Michael F. Acedo
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer
& Corporate Secretary
OpenText Corporation
Aaron J. Atkinson
Partner
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Geoffrey S. Belsher
Chair
Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Douglas Bryce
National Managing Partner
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Lydia Bugden, K.C.
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner
Stewart McKelvey Lawyers and Avocats
Peter Castiel
Partner
Stikeman Elliott
Matthew Cockburn
Managing Partner
Torys LLP
Martin K. Denyes
Chair
Fasken
David Di Paolo
National Managing Partner & Chief Executive Officer
BLG
Debra J. Finlay
Senior Partner
Mc Carthy Tétrault
Matthew Gottlieb
Partner
Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP
Monique Jilesen
Managing Partner
Lenczner Slaght
Melissa Kennedy
Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal & Public Policy Officer
Sun Life
Leonard Lee
Partner
Wildeboer Dellelce LLP
Lorraine Mastersmith
Firm Managing Partner
Gowling WLG
Blair McCreadie
Managing Partner
Dentons
John M. Mercury
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Bennett Jones LLP
Stephen Pincus
Partner
Goodmans LLP
Sarah Qadeer
Chief Legal Officer
Deloitte Canada
Kristin Taylor
Managing Partner
Cassels Brock & Blackwell
Jennifer Teskey
Managing Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright
Warren Bongard* (Non-voting)
President
ZSA Legal Recruitment
Christopher Sweeney* (Non-voting)
Chief Executive Officer
ZSA Legal Recruitment