February 16, 2009


Montréal, Monday, February 16, 2009 – Fasken Martineau, a leading Canadian national and international law firm, announced the creation of the Fasken Martineau Excellence Fund at the Faculty of Law of McGill University. This gift is the first sizable law firm contribution to Campaign McGill, the ambitious fundraising drive currently underway at the University.

"The Fund has two goals, both of which will serve to support individual students at McGill, and not just the institution itself. We believe in promoting McGill by funding its intellectual capital," said Claude Auger, Fasken Martineau's Managing Partner for Québec. "The Fund will reward scholastic achievement and promote scholarly research by students enrolled in the joint B.C.L.-LL.B. program."

There are three components to the Excellence Fund: The Fasken Martineau Scholarship for Legal Excellence will be an endowment to provide $7,500 to students with a distinguished scholastic record. The Fasken Martineau Corporate Social Responsibility Research Fund will provide funding for research projects conducted by students under the supervision of law professors. The Fasken Martineau Fund for the Journal of Law and Health will provide support to this student-run and peer-reviewed scholarly publication on health and the law.

"When students work directly with their professors, or participate in student-run initiatives such as the Journal for Law and Health, they gain exposure to public policy and legal issues surrounding our most pressing societal concerns," said Nicholas Kasirer, the Dean of Law at McGill. "These are our best and brightest, and we are tremendously grateful to Fasken Martineau for leading the way in supporting their future."
"With the creation of the Fasken Martineau Excellence Fund, our firm is able to provide tangible financial support where it is most needed" adds Mr. Auger. "We like the idea of investing in the future by rewarding scholastic excellence, while also financing the immediate results which are provided by specific research." Funding for this initiative was provided by the Firm and by individual members, many of them graduates of the McGill Law Faculty.


For more information:

Anne-Julie Maltais
Communications and Media Specialist
Fasken Martineau
Tel.: 514 397 4349
Cell.: 514 947 4349
amaltais@fasken.com