Judicial appointment for Court of King’s Bench in Red Deer

A second judicial appointment made on Monday was Melanie Gaston, Partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Calgary, who was appointed a Justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta in Calgary. Justice Gaston replaces Justice M.R. Bast (Red Deer), who resigned effective January 4, 2022. Officials say the Chief Justice has transferred Justice G.D. Marriott (Calgary) into this vacancy. The vacancy is therefore located in Calgary.

“I wish Justices Rickards and Gaston every success as they take on their new roles. I am confident they will serve Albertans well as members of the Court of King’s Bench,” said the Hon. David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

BIOGRAPHY

Justice Christopher A. Rickards, K.C., was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and lived there until his family immigrated to Canada in 1979. He moved to Calgary and did his undergraduate studies at the University of Calgary, then attended law school at the University of Toronto. He received numerous awards and scholarships during his university career and graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts with distinction in philosophy and political science in 1986 and from the University of Toronto with a Juris Doctor degree in 1990. He was called to the Alberta bar in 1991.

Justice Rickards articled and practised in Calgary at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP before joining Johnston Ming Manning LLP in 1992, where he was the head of the litigation department and the managing partner for many years. He had a general litigation practice, with commercial, personal injury, estate, and construction litigation and employment law being his main areas of focus. He was appointed King’s Counsel in 2014.

Justice Rickards is a past chair of the Board of the Central Alberta Community Legal Clinic, a former member of the Board of Directors of Pro Bono Law Alberta, and past president of the Central Alberta Bar Society, and he was the Red Deer Judicial District representative of the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association for a number of years. He was also involved with a number of fundraising activities for Red Deer Polytechnic.

During his years as President of the Central Alberta Bar Society, Justice Rickards was significantly involved in advocating for a much-needed new courthouse for Red Deer and was pleased to see those efforts and the efforts of others bear fruit in the new Justice Centre for Red Deer which is in the process of being built and promises to improve access to justice for Central Albertans.

by rdnewsNOW staff

Judicial appointment for Court of King’s Bench in Red Deer

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