The Honourable J. Weston MacAleer, Attorney General, announced that effective December 21, 1999, Executive Council appointed the following lawyers as Queen's Counsel: Elizabeth Strong Reagh and Thomas A. Matheson both of Charlottetown.
Elizabeth Reagh practices in Charlottetown and is a partner in the law firm Reagh and Reagh. She graduated with a law degree from Dalhousie University in 1959 and began her law career in British Columbia. In 1964 she formed a partnership in private practice with her husband Theodore. After returning to the province, Elizabeth was called to the Prince Edward Island Bar in 1975. She currently has a general practice with emphasis in family law as a lawyer-mediator-conciliator.
Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Thomas Matheson was admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1977 and the Prince Edward Island Bar in 1978, having completed his education at Dalhousie University in 1977. He is a director of The Canadian National Trust and Loan Company and Pictet International Trust Corporation and a lecturer of Commercial and Corporate Law for the PEI Bar admissions course. Thomas is a member of the Law Society of Prince Edward Island and a partner in the law firm of Cox Hanson O'Reilly Matheson.
The recommendation for appointment of Queen's Counsel is made to the Lieutenant Governor in Council by a committee composed of the president of the Law Society, a member of the Law Society appointed by the Council of the Law Society, a person appointed by the Attorney General, a justice of the Supreme Court, and a judge of the Provincial Court. To be nominated by the committee, the nominee must have been a member of the Law Society for a period of at least 10 years.
The appointment of a Queen's Counsel recognizes the ability and dedication to the legal profession of the appointee and permits the use of the letters "Q.C." after the lawyer's name.