It is with profound sadness that Bennett Jones marks the passing of Allan Gotlieb on April 18, 2020, at the age of 92. He retired from the firm last May after 13 years as a Senior Business Advisor in our Toronto office.  

A native of Winnipeg, Allan spent a lifetime in public service. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest civil honour in the country. Allan was Canada’s Ambassador to the United States between 1982 and 1990, and in that role he redefined the office and raised Canada's profile at a critical time, helping consummate the Free Trade Agreement and the Treaty on Acid Rain.

“Allan was a patriot who served his country with exceptional skill and dedication. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Sondra and their family,” says Hugh MacKinnon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bennett Jones.

Allan received degrees from the University of California Berkeley, Harvard Law and Oxford (as a Rhodes Scholar). He received Honourary Doctorates from the University of Toronto, Western, Concordia and a number of other universities. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard and the University of Toronto, and a visiting fellow at All Souls and Wadham Colleges, Oxford. He was admitted to the Bar in England in 1956 as a Barrister of the Inner Temple. He had enjoyed leadership roles in a number of Crown Corporations and public and private companies and not for profit organizations. 

He will be dearly missed.