Three alumni of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law received Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta appointments on May 22.
Kenneth G. Nielsen, '77 LLB, was elevated to the position of associate chief justice. Kevin Feth, QC, '89 LLB, and Kent H. Davidson, QC, '82 LLB, were each appointed justices of the Court and judges ex officio of the Court of Appeal of Alberta.
"The Faculty of Law extends its congratulations and best wishes to all those newly appointed to the bench in Alberta," said Paul Paton, dean of the Faculty of Law.
"Justices Feth and Davidson continue in the distinguished tradition of generations of UAlberta Law grads who have served the province and the country first as distinguished members of the bar and thereafter as members of the judiciary."
Paton said that Justice Feth has a special connection to the Faculty of Law as former president of Alumni and Friends and as a strong supporter of the Faculty and its graduates, and also noted that the Faculty has been most grateful for the support that Justice Davidson has provided through his former firm, Miller Thomson.
Justice Nielsen has been a Court of Queen's Bench justice since 2007, after almost 30 years of practising law in Edmonton with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP and its predecessor firms. His practice emphasized litigation and professional liability, and he also served as a dispute resolution mediator and arbitrator.
He has been the elected member of the Court of Queen's Bench Executive Board for Edmonton, co-chair on several committees for the Court, and served as a liaison with the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association. He was named as Queen's Counsel in 1995 and is a Judicial Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
He has also served as president of the Law Society of Alberta and is president of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. He has been involved in the Canadian Superior Court Judges Association, and is an active member of the Council.
Associate chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench is a newly created position intended to help manage the growing and increasingly complex caseload being experienced by the Court.
Feth is a partner at Field Law LLP in Edmonton, a former sessional instructor at UAlberta Law from 2004 to 2009, amd an instructor in litigation at the Alberta Bar Admission/CPLED course for 15 years. He has practised primarily in the areas of education law, employment and labour, human rights, administrative law, commercial and constitutional litigation, and Aboriginal law.
He has been a frequent speaker and writer for writer for legal educational organizations and is one of the co-authors of Remedies in Labour, Employment and Human Rights Law.
He was president of the Law Society of Alberta in 2014-2015, and chaired numerous Law Society committees, including the Legal Aid Task Force from 2014 to 2018, and the Access to Justice Committee. He served previously as chair of the National Civil Litigation Section of the Canadian Bar Association. Since 2015, he has been the president of Pro Bono Law Alberta.
Justice Feth is recognized by Benchmark Litigation: Canada as a peer-reviewed "litigation star" in labour and employment and by Best Lawyers in Canada as a recommended lawyer in education law.
In 2019, he received the Distinguished Service Award for Service to the Legal Profession from the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association (Alberta Branch). He was made a Queen's Counsel in 2010.
Justice Davidson is a partner at Miller Thomson LLP in Edmonton.
He practised for 18 years with Lucas, Bishop, Bowker and White and its successors, serving on the management committee during that time. In 2001, he joined Miller Thomson LLP, heading its Alberta Labour and Employment department. In 2006, he became the managing partner for the Edmonton office of the firm. In 2012, he became the Alberta managing partner and he was elected chair of the firm in 2014.
Throughout his service in management, he remained an active practitioner, appearing as counsel in arbitration matters and in civil matters in the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, the Alberta Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
He also served two terms as city councillor for the city of St. Albert, was a charter member and director of the St. Albert Rotary Club, and was the founding president of the St. Albert Community Foundation. He has been involved with many community charitable and sporting organizations over the years.
Dean Paton also offered special congratulations to Johanna C. Price, a partner at Peacock Linder Halt & Mack LLP in Calgary, who was appointed a justice of the Court of Queen's Bench in the same round of appointments.
"I have worked closely with Madam Justice Price through the CBA Alberta Executive and her boundless energy, drive and commitment will serve the system of justice very well indeed," he said.