KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
The Honourable Suzanne Côté
The Honourable Suzanne Côté was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 1, 2014.
Before her appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada, Justice Côté was a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, where she was head of the Montréal office’s litigation group.
Before joining Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, Justice Côté had practised for 23 years at Stikeman Elliott, where she was also head of the Montréal office’s litigation group. She specialized in complex civil and commercial litigation, including cases involving manufacturer’s liability, class actions, shareholder disputes and public law.
Before she started working for major law firms, Justice Côté practised for approximately 8 years in the Gaspé Peninsula, where she had been born.
Justice Côté received the Advocatus Emeritus distinction from the Barreau du Québec in 2011. In addition, she has been a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 2005.
The Honourable Chief Justice Ron A. Skolrood
The Honourable Ron A. Skolrood was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia on October 15, 2024. Prior to his appointment, Chief Justice Skolrood was a justice of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia from 2022 to 2024 and a justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia from 2013 to 2022.
Chief Justice Skolrood earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Lethbridge in 1983 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Victoria in 1986. He clerked for the Honourable Mr. Justice William McIntyre of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1986-87 then
completed a Master of Laws degree at the University of Cambridge in 1989. He was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1988 and to the Bar of the Northwest Territories in 2010. He was appointed King’s Counsel in 2012.
Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Skolrood practiced with the law firm of Lawson Lundell LLP in Vancouver since 1987. His main areas of practice were civil, commercial and administrative litigation.