Members

Eden Alexander is legal counsel serving with the Department of Justice Canada – Northern Region in Whitehorse since 2016, with a particular emphasis on Aboriginal law, administrative law and policing law. Eden’s broad interest in the intersection between law, society and human rights have led through the course of her education and career from Newfoundland to Ghana and many points in between. In her legal career she has clerked for a justice in the Court of Quebec – Criminal Division; worked on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report;  and served as an associate at BLG in Ottawa. She left that position in 2016 to become a legal counsel for the Yukon Department of Justice. Eden earned her BA in International Development Studies and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie, and her B.C.L. and LL.B. at McGill.

Jonathan Coady has spent the better part of his career at the firm of Stewart McKelvey in Charlottetown, where he has worked successively as a law student, articling student and associate before becoming partner in 2014. He also spent a year after his call to the bar in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. in 2007 clerking for Federal Court Justice Eleanor R. Dawson in Ottawa. His practice focuses in the areas of administrative law, statutory offences, constitutional law and civil litigation involving the Crown. He has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada, as well as before provincial courts and provincial and federal boards and tribunals. He graduated from Dalhousie University School of Law in 2006 and earned his Master of Laws (Public Law) from Cambridge University in 2009.

Melanie Del Rizzo, Q.C. was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. She graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1989, obtained her LL.B. from McGill University in 1994, and was called to the Newfoundland and Labrador Bar in 1995.

Ms. Del Rizzo is a senior partner with the St. John’s law firm of Smyth Woodland Del Rizzo Barrett. She has developed an extensive practice primarily devoted to family law and is a certified mediator. A member of the national executive of the Canadian Bar Association Family Section since 2009, Ms. Del Rizzo is past Chair of that Section, and has also served on the CBA’s National Sections Subcommittee.

Amongst other board and volunteer commitments, Ms. Del Rizzo served as a member of the City of St. John’s Heritage Committee for 12 years, on student councils for 9, and is a recipient of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Gordon M. Stirling Distinguished Service Award but is most proud of her 34 seasons (and counting) playing with the Gower Youth Band and Gower Community Band.

She is married to John Del Rizzo and is mom to Amelia (20) and Gabe (19).

Gregory Lyndon has practised law in the North for the past 15 years. He is currently one of two General Counsel with PPSC in Nunavut and previously worked for Saskatchewan Justice and Saskatchewan Legal Aid. Prior to this, he spent a decade in a variety of assignments within the United Nations system, serving in far flung locations including Hong Kong, Iran, Kosovo, and Pakistan. Born in Edmonton, Gregory is a fifth-generation settler from Treaty 7 territory. His interests include reading, writing, hiking, and husky sled dogs.

Susan Johnson arrived in Canada from Kingston, Jamaica five years ago with a goal of getting actively involved in shaping the legal profession in this country, emphasizing the value of diversity and inclusion. With an MBA and 10 years of working as a personal banking assistant in Jamaica under her belt, Susan turned her focus to the law, earning a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies in 2015, and a JD from the University of New Brunswick in 2017. She was an articling clerk at the New Brunswick Court of Appeal before being called to the bar in New Brunswick in 2018 and Nova Scotia in 2019. She now works as an associate in McInnes Cooper’s Corporate and Tax Practice Group in Halifax, and is studying to be a CPA.

Michael McKinney has been a CBA member since 1986 and is Executive Director and General Counsel for the Sawridge First Nation and the Sawridge Group of Companies, a role he has served in since 1988. He has served and continues to serve on a number of Boards for a several organizations. Michael obtained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with distinction in 1983 from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Law Degree (LL.B) in 1986 from the University of Alberta. He has served on the CBA Audit Committee since 2020, served as a Chair of the CCCA Alberta Branch since 2015 and was Chair of the Canadian Corporate Council Association in 2018-2019.

Melanie Mortensen is Legislative Counsel & Designated Deputy Chief Legislative Counsel for Members' Drafting for the Ministry of the Attorney General in the Government of British Columbia. After receiving an M.A. in English at McGill, Melanie went on to earn both her LL.B and LL.M at the same university. A CBA member since 2000, Melanie was first called to the Bar in Quebec in 2004 and in British Columbia in 2015. She has served as Chair of the CBA’s Public Sector Lawyers Section, and has also been active in the Women Lawyers Forum at the Branch level, as well as other Sections that intersect with her practice and interests. She hopes to help the Board chart a clear course in the midst of the pressures caused by the pandemic.

David O’Brien has been a CBA member since he entered law school at Dalhousie University in 1980. Called to the bar in New Brunswick in 1984, David was a partner in the former firm Barry Spalding before joining Cox & Palmer in Saint John, N.B., in 2013, where he has a strong litigation practice focusing on health and insurance law and routinely represents insurers in the province’s courts. The CBA-NB Branch awarded David its Distinguished Service Award in 2010. He has served as Branch Treasurer, as well as Chair of the Civil Litigation Section at both the Branch and National levels, and Chair of the National Health Law Section. He is a longstanding member of the Law Society of New Brunswick’s Ethics Committee and has had significant involvement in the civic life of the City of Saint John.

Brittany Scott may have only been called to the bar three years ago – in Alberta and the Northwest Territories – but she has already racked up some impressive achievements, including serving as the Vice-President and President of the CBA’s Northwest Territories Branch. She graduated with a B.A. in Finance from the University of Calgary in 2013, and then earned her J.D. from Queen’s University in 2016. She was a student-at-law with Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer in Calgary before moving to McLennan Ross LLP in Yellowknife, and then to Denroche & Associates, where she put her business background to working in the fields of corporate commercial law, real estate, environmental and aboriginal corporate governance. She is currently a senior advisor – legislative and legal affairs for the Government of the Northwest Territories. She is also working on her LLM with a focus on energy, environment and infrastructure, at York University.

Steve is the Managing Lawyer of Seiferling Law, a boutique firm in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which deals in labour law, employment law, human rights, privacy, and all things workplace related, including collective bargaining and negotiation. In addition to his work in labour and employment law, which has allowed him to appear before all Saskatchewan courts and a number of tribunals, Steve works as a sessional lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan, teaching Labour Law, and Occupational Health and Safety.

When he’s not in the office, Steve can be found spending time with his son or in the gym which he co-owns. Prior to founding Seiferling Law with his father Larry, Steve worked in private practice for several years, in both Ontario and Saskatchewan, and worked in-house for a natural resources company.

John Stefaniuk is a partner with the Winnipeg-based law firm of Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP. He has more than 30 years' experience in the areas of environmental law, Indigenous law, natural resources and energy law, commercial law, property development, and municipal law. He earned his law degree at the University of Manitoba and was called to the bar in that province in 1988. John’s involvement in the Canadian Bar Association is extensive: he has served as President of CBA-Manitoba and previously sat on the National Board in 2006-07. He is currently in his third year as Chair of the CBA’s Judicial Issues Subcommittee and is an active volunteer in the CBA International Initiatives/Global Affairs Canada SIRD (Supporting Inclusive Resource Development) project in East Africa. He also served as a member of the CBA’s Truth and Reconciliation Task Force.

Lynne Vicars is a banker turned lawyer whose extensive experience in both business and complex litigation has fostered a passion for bringing technology to the legal profession. With an M.B.A. in International Business, a J.D. from the University of Alberta, an LL.M. in e-Business Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a certificate in Lean Six Sigma from the University of Toronto, Lynne brings a unique perspective to her legal practice – one that connects business principles and technical innovation with legal vision and strategy.

Admitted to practice in multiple jurisdictions, Lynne provides strategic legal advice on data privacy and breach response, information governance, internal investigations, regulatory compliance, eDiscovery, subpoena response and trains other lawyers on the use of "CaseLines" for electronic document review and presentation in hearings.