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Home News Law Society presents Honorary LLD to the Honourable Paul S. Rouleau

Law Society presents Honorary LLD to the Honourable Paul S. Rouleau

June 02, 2022

At the June 22, 2022, Call to the Bar ceremony in Toronto, the Law Society will present a degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD) to Court of Appeal Justice Paul S. Rouleau, a leader in the francophone legal community and advocate for the continuing legal education of those in the justice sector and legal professions.  

The Law Society awards honorary doctorates each year to distinguished individuals in recognition of outstanding achievements in the legal profession, the rule of law or the cause of justice.

Justice Rouleau received his Bachelor of Administration in 1974 and his LL.B in 1977, both from the University of Ottawa. He then received his Master of Laws from York University in 1984. He was a partner with the law firms Heenan Blaikie from 2000 to 2002, Genest Murray, DesBrisay, Lamek from 1987 to 2000 and Cassels Brock & Blackwell from his call to the Bar in 1979 to 1987.

He was appointed as a Justice of the Superior Court of Ontario in 2002, and to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2005. He was also appointed as a Deputy Judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon in 2014, and of the Nunavut Court of Justice and the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories in 2017.

Since his appointments, Justice Rouleau has been actively involved in the continuing legal education of judges, both domestically and internationally and of members of the Bar. He chairs the Ontario Attorney General’s Access to Justice in French Advisory Committee and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Law Commission of Ontario. He was a founding member of the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario (AJEFO) – a francophone legal community and center of expertise in the province – and was its President from 1985 to 1987. He also served as Trustee of the Metropolitan Toronto Separate School Board from 1986 to 1991.

He was appointed as the first Chancellor of l’Université de l’Ontario français on May 11, 2022. He is the recipient of the Bastarache-Charron award for the year 2021-2022 given by the RÉCLEF (Regroupement étudiant de common law en français) of the University of Ottawa. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions, including an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from York University and the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique, awarded by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française du Québec. In 2005, he was inducted into the Common Law Honour Society of the University of Ottawa.

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