The Honourable John Hogan KC, Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General, is pleased to announce the province’s newest appointments to the King’s Counsel.
The honourary title of King’s Counsel recognizes senior lawyers for exceptional merit and contribution to the legal profession. These lawyers have served a minimum of 10 years as a member of the bar, have gained the respect of the legal community and are in good standing with the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Appointments are made after consultation with the Legal Appointments Board as outlined in the Queen’s Counsel Act.
Those appointed to King’s Counsel are: Philip J. Buckingham, Anna Cook, Amy M. Crosbie, John Duggan, Ann Florence Martin, Kathleen M. O’Neill, Nicholas Whalen and Rodney Zdebiak. Biographies of each appointee can be found in the backgrounder below.
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“Being appointed King’s Counsel is a testament to a lawyer’s esteemed contributions to their profession and selfless community building that benefit all of us in Newfoundland and Labrador. I offer sincere congratulations to the appointees and look forward to what we will see next from these learned and purposeful individuals.”
Honourable John Hogan, KC
Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General
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BACKGROUNDER
Biographies for King’s Counsel Appointees
Philip J. Buckingham
Philip J. Buckingham is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland (B.A., 1986) and the University Of Saskatchewan College of Law (LL.B., 1989). He was called to the Bar of Newfoundland and Labrador and enrolled as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1990.
He was an adjudicator on the Mental Health Review Board, a former Canadian Representative on the International Rugby Board Judicial Panel, and currently sits as a member of The Law Society’s disciplinary panel. He has contributed to Carswell’s Annual Civil Litigation Review, spoken at various conferences on matters of insurance, and for many years was an instructor in Civil Procedure at the Law Society’s Bar Admissions Course. He is recognized by Lexpert and Benchmark Litigation as a leading practitioner in the areas of insurance and commercial litigation.
He appears regularly before the Superior Courts of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Federal Courts of Canada and has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Anna Cook
Anna is a partner in the St. John’s office of Cox & Palmer. She was admitted to the Newfoundland and Labrador bar in 2000, after earning an undergraduate degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland (B.A. (English, French) 1995) and her law degree from Dalhousie University (LL.B. 1999).
Anna has an extensive and dynamic corporate and commercial practice, advising a broad and diverse group of clients ranging from small business startups to large multinational and international corporations. Anna handles commercial financings, commercial real estate, share sales, asset sales, mergers and acquisitions. As an offshoot of this, Anna has developed specialized expertise in the business matters relating to the fishing industry in this province, representing fishers, processors and lenders as they deal with enterprise sales, financing and regulatory matters.
Anna’s corporate and commercial clients also benefit from her experience in privacy law compliance and access to information requests, both on the federal and provincial level. Anna’s clients appreciate not only her sound and practical advice and counsel, but also her solution-focused approach, her timeliness and responsiveness.
Amy M. Crosbie
Amy M. Crosbie is a partner with Curtis Dawe Lawyers with over 27 years of litigation experience in range of practice areas. She completed a B.Sc.(Biology) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1992 and a LL.B from the University of New Brunswick in 1995.
Ms. Crosbie’s litigation practice includes construction law, natural resource and energy law, family law and media law. She has, over the past 27 years, appeared before all levels of court in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the Federal Court of Canada and numerous regulatory and administrative bodies, including commissions of inquiry.
Ms. Crosbie was peer-selected for inclusion in 2022 and 2023 editions of The Best Lawyers in Canada for her work in energy regulatory law, defamation and media law and family law. She is a member of the ADR Institute of Canada (ADRIC), the Canadian Energy Law Foundation and the Canadian Media Lawyers Association on which she previously served as the Atlantic Canadian representative. She served two four year terms as a Bencher of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is a past Chair of Newfoundland and Labrador Crime Stoppers and was appointed an Honourary Life Member of the Royal St. John’s Regatta Committee after serving for over 10 years as a committee and executive member.
Amy lives in St. John’s with her husband Gary Squires and their teenage children, Kate and Andrew.
John Duggan
John attended Dalhousie Law School in 1988 graduating in 1991. He articled with the late Barry Heywood then with the late Judge Gloria Harding at the Newfoundland and Labrador Legal Aid Commission. Upon his call to the bar on April 8, 1992, John remained with the Legal Aid Commission as a staff solicitor then went on to become the first Area Director for the St. John’s office for approximately four years then as Deputy Director – Legal until his retirement in June 2013.
John continued with his legal career as a sole practitioner with concentrations on criminal, family, and civil litigation. John also acts as a crown agent and as amicus curie when requested to do so.
Since the early days of his legal career, he had a keen interest in therapeutic justice, believing that treating the person was the best approach to ensuring a reduction in repeat offenses. John prepared the first funding submission for the creation of the present mental health court then continued with this work until the court was operational. John was then appointed by the Legal Aid Commission to the steering committee for the creation of the family violence intervention court and remained there until this court was operational.
John was also appointed to function as co-chair for the Ministerial Advisory Committee for the creation of a Drug Treatment Court in Newfoundland and Labrador. John continued this work on a volunteer basis for over two years until this court also became operational.
John has been married to his wife Debbie for over forty-six years where they reside in St. John’s and Charleston, Bonavista Bay.
Ann Florence Martin
Ann Florence Martin was born in St. John’s and attended school in Ferryland, St. John’s and Carbonear. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, Hons (1986) from Memorial University, receiving the gold medal for French Language Arts. After teaching in France for a year, she attended McGill University, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1990. She articled at Martin Whalen Hennebury Stamp and practiced law there after being called to the Bar of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1991.
Ms. Martin first joined WorkplaceNL, the provincial workers’ compensation board, as Legal Counsel in 1995 and in 2006 was appointed General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. In 2023, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer for WorkplaceNL.
Ms. Martin’s career has focused on delivering legal, policy and other corporate services within Newfoundland and Labrador’s workers’ compensation system, participating as a member of the senior management team and providing legal and governance advice to the Board of Directors, as well as representing WorkplaceNL before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and administrative tribunals.
Ms. Martin was elected as a Bencher of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2013 and served on the insurance committee, the complaints authorization committee, the executive committee and as president from 2020-2021. Ms. Martin is an Honorary Bencher and continues to serve as a member of the code of professional conduct review committee and the fitness to practice committee.
Ms. Martin is married to John J. Harris K.C. and mother to Amelia, Sarah and John.
Kathleen (Kate) M. O’Neill
Kate O’Neill was born and raised in St. John’s. She commenced her university studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador and concluded her studies in French, with a minor in English Literature, at L’Université Laval with a Bachelière ès Arts. She went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Communications at University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Laws at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Kate began her legal career with O’Reilly, Noseworthy as a summer student in 1998 and has continued to work with that firm and its successors, now Cox & Palmer, since her call to the Bar in 2001. She was called to the Nova Scotia Bar and practised in Halifax for a short period before returning to her home in St. John’s. Over that time, Kate’s practice has focused on civil, insurance, and commercial litigation, as well as employment and labour law, including formal training as a workplace investigator. She represents her clients before all levels of court in the province, as well as in arbitrations, professional disciplinary matters, and at the labour board and Human Rights Commission.
Kate has been a partner with Cox & Palmer since 2008, having served on the management committee of the firm, and acting as a member of the recruitment and diversity and inclusion Committees. She is a director of the Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers. Additionally, she is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and Canadian Defence Lawyers, and has been recognized in the Best Lawyers in Canada and Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for her work in personal injury law, commercial litigation, and employment and labour. She is a senior member of the Cox & Palmer insurance group, which was recognized in 2022 as law firm of the year for insurance law by The Best Lawyers™ in Canada.
Kate is proud of and inspired by her long-time work as a member of the board of directors of Special Olympics Newfoundland and Labrador. She is kept happily busy on adventures with her husband, Robert Evans, and her family, Maggie, Siân, Lucy, Jake and grandson, Sullivan.
Nicholas Whalen
Nick Whalen was born and raised in St. John’s, graduating from Bishops College in 1991 as class valedictorian. He first studied and trained to be an engineer at Queen’s University, B.Sc.(eng) ’96, M.Sc.(eng) ’98, earning the D.S. Elliott Memorial Award for contribution by an engineering student to Queen’s University in athletics, academics and extra-curricular activities. While studying engineering, Nick spent three summers in Gratkorn, Austria with Philips Semiconductors, before deciding to pursue a career in patent law.
Nick’s legal education at McGill University, was supported by a Newfoundland and Labrador Law Foundation Scholarship and a McGill Law School National Programme Entrance Scholarship. While at law school, Nick was awarded the Patricia Allen Award for outstanding contribution to the faculty.
Being unable to train as a patent agent in Newfoundland at the time, Nick undertook articles with Deeth Williams Wall LLP, in Toronto, where he specialized in intellectual property and technology law, and was first called to the Ontario bar in 2002. He was then called to the New York State bar in 2005 and qualified as a patent agent in 2007. From 2007 until 2009, he worked Stikeman Elliott in Toronto, where he practiced primarily in mergers and acquisitions for technology companies.
Nick and his wife, Dr. Sarah Noble, finally moved home in 2009 to raise their children, Sophie and Isaac. Nick was called to the bar in Newfoundland and Labrador in May 2009, and practiced law with the firm McInnes Cooper, being named a partner in July 2011.
From November 2015 until October 2019, Nick was the Member of Parliament for the Riding of St. John’s East. In addition to duties in the House of Commons and in his riding, Nick served as chair of the Atlantic Liberal Caucus, chair of the House of Commons standing committee on citizenship and immigration and as a member of the House of Commons standing committees on natural resources and government operations and estimates.
After politics, Nick joined Benson Buffett PLC Inc. as counsel in the practice of law, and Deeth Williams Wall LLP for the prosecution of patent and trademarks as a registered agent.
Since 2012, Nick has been recognized by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in Canada for intellectual property, information technology and technology Law.
Rodney Zdebiak
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Rod completed a Bachelor of Arts (with distinction) at the University of Manitoba in 1987, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1992. While attending Dalhousie, he served as a student member of the Nova Scotia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association (1989-1992). After graduation, Rod and his spouse Wendy, moved to St. John’s, where Rod began articles at the St. John’s office of Stewart McKelvey. He was called to the Newfoundland and Labrador Bar in 1993 and became a partner at Stewart McKelvey in January 2000.
Rod practices primarily in the areas of insurance litigation and education law. Other areas of practice include real estate and municipal law.
In the 1990’s, Rod was a member of the Canadian Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Conference, and went on to become the Newfoundland and Labrador chair. Rod continues to be a member of the Canadian Bar Association, and in 2022, he was the recipient of the Honourable Robert Wells, QC Award, which recognizes outstanding public service and commitment to community and charitable causes.
From 2005 to 2018, Rod was a member of the Canadian Association for the Practical Study of Law and Education (CAPSLE), a nation-wide resource for those in the field of education law. In addition to attending annual meetings, Rod twice presented to CAPSLE on the topics of school closures and school re-organizations.
Rod was appointed as a bencher of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2017 to fill a vacancy and has since been twice re-elected. As a bencher, Rod has served on the discipline committee and acted as chair of the insurance committee. Rod currently serves on the code of professional conduct review committee and is the chair of the complaints authorization committee.
In 2015 Rod was appointed to the board of commissioners for Legal Aid NL. He currently sits on the board of commissioners human resources sub-committee and is the chair of the appeal board. Since 2018 Rod has taught a portion of the civil procedure section of the bar admissions course. In 2023, Rod was appointed to the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission
Throughout his career, Rod has also volunteered his time and expertise to charitable organizations outside the legal community. In the 1990s, he was a member of the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Newfoundland and Labrador, an organization dedicated to educating students about work readiness. He also served on the board of directors of the Newfoundland Society for the Physically Disabled (now known as Easter Seals Newfoundland and Labrador) until 2010, and from 2006 – 2007 was vice-president. In addition to governance issues, he was involved in re-drafting the by-laws of the organization. Since 2003, he has served on the board of directors for Computers for Schools NL, an organization that provides students, non-profit organizations and families with computers and related technologies. He is also co-chair of the board of directors for Sound Arts Initiatives, which produces musical festivals, symphonies and concerts that celebrate music and sound in St. John’s and an organization for which he as volunteered in various capacities for over 30 years.