e. ann mowatt, BA, LL.B. '85

Ann Mowatt, of Saint John, New Brunswick, arrived at Dalhousie Law School in 1982 at the age of 19, having already completed an undergraduate degree.  It is noteworthy that she began her legal career at such an early age, but more noteworthy still is that her career in unselfish public service began even earlier.  For nearly twenty years, she has volunteered significant portions of her time to public service organizations.

Ann Mowatt has given her time to the YWCA since 1978, in positions ranging from volunteer counselor in training as a teenager to National President at present, from advisor at the Saint John Legal Information and Referral Clinic for Women to Canadian Representative to the World Council of the YWCA in South Korea.  She has served on Boards of Directors for the YWCA movement for ten years, including terms as President both locally and nationally.  Fellow volunteers describe her as “an exceptional President” of the YWCA of/du Canada, and as “someone who cares about people and the world around her”.

She has also been actively involved at the local, regional, and national level with the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  She has served on the Board of the Saint John Branch for over a decade, as President in 1987-88.  She also serves on the Atlantic Division Board of Directors, as President from 1993-95, and served on the national Board of Directors from 1992-1995.  The Society describes her contribution as “enormous” and her as someone with “enthusiasm and dedication to improving life for people with multiple sclerosis”.

In addition to these activities, Ann Mowatt also acts as pro bono legal advisor to the New Brunswick council of Girl Guides of Canada, has served on the Board of Directors of the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations, and on the board of Saint John Boys and Girls Club.

Her volunteer work has been previously recognized through the Saint John YM-MWCA Trendsetter Award in 1991, the Canada 125 Medal in 1992, and the MS Society of Canada’s National Award of Merit in 1996,.

Ann Mowatt is a partner with the Saint John office of Patterson Palmer Hunt Murphy.  As a practicing lawyer, she has contributed to the betterment of the profession by lecturing in the Bar Admission course and at Continuing Legal Education Conferences on professional responsibility and on family law, by serving on the Saint John Law Society Council, the New Brunswick Council of the Canadian Bar Association, the New Brunswick CBA Young Lawyers subsection, and the Legal Aid Committee of the Law Society of New Brunswick.  She has also written a variety of publications for Matrimonial Property Law in Canada, for the Solicitor’s Journal, and for Bar Admission Course materials.

Though still a young woman, Ann Mowatt has already demonstrated herself to have a lifelong commitment to unselfish public service.  That she has found the time to make this extraordinary contribution while also pursuing a successful legal career is all the more remarkable.  She is a reminder of what we might do, if we always followed our better instincts and good intentions, and she is a most fitting recipient of the 1997 Weldon Award for Unselfish Public Service.