Four more distinguished legal professionals will be providing strategic advice to Dean Bill Flanagan. James Dorr, Law’87, Jennifer Keenan, Law’90, Anton Sahazizian, Law’94, and Stephen Shamie, Law’86, were appointed to the Dean’s Council in April.
“I am delighted to have James, Jennifer, Anton and Stephen on the Council to help Queen’s Law achieve our mission and vision,” says Flanagan. “They are all leaders in their field and add even more diverse experience and knowledge to my team of alumni advisors.”
James Dorr, Law’87 (Artsci’84), is General Counsel and a Managing Director of Orbis Investments, a global investment firm operating in nine major cities around the world. Based in London, England, he provides strategic, management and legal leadership for the Orbis group of companies worldwide. He received an LLM from the University of Cambridge in 1991 and remains a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Prior to joining Orbis in 1998, he practised corporate/commercial and securities law for nine years as a partner with Davies, Ward & Beck in Toronto.
“I benefitted enormously from the intellectual and social environment that Queen’s Law offered,” he says of his student days. “I am keen for others to be afforded the same opportunity. Becoming involved in the Dean’s Council allows me to give back in a very small way by sharing an international perspective on the promotion of the Faculty’s mission and priorities.”
Jennifer Keenan, Law’90, deals with issues of global health and immigration as Chair of Dignitas International, a Canadian charity that operates in Malawi and in Canada’s Indigenous communities and aims to strengthen health care systems for people living in remote, impoverished regions. She is past Advisory Board Chair for the Give a Day to World AIDS Campaign, is an immigration specialist for an MP’s constituents, has been a lawyer and an advisor to new Canadian immigrants, was a Bencher for the Law Society of Upper Canada, and received a 2011 Lexpert Zenith Award for philanthropy that impacts children.
“My time at Queen’s Law was an amazing experience and formative to my development as an individual,” says Keenan, a former Law Students’ Society President. “I had been involved in the public realm and politics before I arrived at Queen's, but there my eyes were truly opened to a broader spectrum of thinking that went well beyond learning the law and facilitated a greater understanding of how other people think and experience things.”
Anton Sahazizian, Law’94, is a Managing Director and Head of U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions at Moelis & Company, a global independent investment bank based in New York City. Previously, he worked at UBS Investment Bank for 10 years, most recently as a Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group for which he advised on numerous high-profile strategic transactions and oversaw the creation and execution of M&A transactions for some of the largest global industrials companies in the chemicals, capital goods, paper, packaging, forest products and energy sectors. A former Toronto securities lawyer and a Duke University MBA grad, he started his investment banking career with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in Los Angeles, where he also co-founded a UBS office and its Exclusive Sales and Divestitures Group.
“My career began at Queen’s Law, where I helped establish the Business Law Symposium, gaining exposure to some of the leading legal minds in Canada,” he says. “In addition to providing access to world-class academics, resources and mentors, Queen’s Law encouraged me to take on leadership positions, get involved, and make a difference at every opportunity. Today, I see the opportunity to join Bill Flanagan’s Dean’s Council as a chance to pay my Queen’s Law experience forward to the next generation of the school’s leaders and, in a small way, have a positive impact on an already-terrific institution.”
Stephen Shamie, Law’86, Managing Partner with Hicks Morley, has more than 25 years of experience advising and representing employers on a wide variety of human resources law matters. He regularly negotiates collective agreements in the hospitality, media, sports and industrial sectors, and serves as defence counsel to employers in arbitration cases, human rights hearings, labour board proceedings and before the courts. The Best Lawyers in Canada named him a 2016 “Lawyer of the Year,” and he has also been recognized repeatedly in such publications as Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, Chambers Global – Canada chapter, and The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory.
At Queen’s Law, he returns regularly to lecture and speak with students, and continues as an Advisory Committee member of the Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace. “I had an incredible experience at Queen’s Law and I believe it is important to ‘give back’ especially when the school is undertaking so many terrific initiatives for students.
“It is very important for alumni to do everything possible to continue the tradition of excellence at the law school,” Shamie adds, “and we should always be looking for ways to make things better for its students.”
By Lisa Graham