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David O'Brien, Q.C.
Vice-President of Risk Management, Pensions & Counsel for McCain Foods Ltd
Florenceville, N.B
2007 Recipient of The Robert V.A. Jones Canadian Corporate Counsel Award
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J. David O'Brien, Q.C., Vice-President of Risk Management, Pensions & Counsel for McCain Foods Ltd. in Florenceville, N.B., is this year's recipient of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association's (CCCA) Robert V.A. Jones Award. The award recognizes O'Brien's exceptional contribution to the development and promotion of the Canadian corporate counsel bar.
O'Brien, 57, has played an active leadership role with the CCCA since 1996. He served in a number of executive roles between 1996 and 2002, including New Brunswick Chapter President, Atlantic Regional Director on the CCCA's National Board of Directors, Chair of the Member Services Committee, National Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair, National Vice-President and National President. He was also instrumental in developing a new working arrangement between the CCCA and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) in 2005, and in the development of new CCCA bylaws in 2006-2007.
Since 1999, O'Brien has also served in a leadership capacity with the CBA, including sitting on the CBA's Board of Directors and Finance Committee. He is the Vice-Chair of the CBA's Special Committee on Member Retirement and Financial Services and acts as Director and Secretary for CBA Financial Services Corp.
O'Brien began working for McCain Foods Ltd. in 1990. Previously, he worked for Transair Ltd. in Winnipeg as counsel and corporate secretary from 1974 to 1977, and, in 1974, as counsel to the Canadian Transport Commission's Air Transport Committee in Ottawa.
He received his law degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1973, and was called to the bar the same year. O'Brien was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2002.
The Robert V. A. Jones Canadian Corporate Counsel Award is named after the founding Executive Director of the CCCA who built the organization over his 11-year tenure. The award was presented at a ceremony that took place at on Tuesday, Aug. 14 in Calgary's Hyatt Hotel, site of the CCCA 19th Annual Meeting.