The partnership board of Stewart McKelvey is pleased to announce the appointment of Lydia Bugden to the position of CEO & Managing Partner, effective August 1, 2015. Lydia’s appointment follows an extensive search process that included a number of very experienced and highly qualified internal and external candidates.

“Lydia’s management experience combined with her significant breadth and depth of legal experience and notable contribution to the community are what made her the partnership board’s unanimous first choice”, said Paul Smith, Chair, Stewart McKelvey partnership board.

Lydia has been inspiring the confidence and collegiality of her clients and colleagues since first joining the firm in 1999. She has provided counsel on significant mergers and acquisitions, financings and governance matters that impact Atlantic Canada and beyond while maintaining an active leadership role in the community.

Lydia succeeds the firm’s first CEO, John Rogers, QC, who united Stewart McKelvey under one administrative body in 2008 and who has since led the firm to year-over-year growth and to become one of Canada’s Top 50 Best Employers.

Lydia will lead the firm as it enters its 25th year as Atlantic Canada’s first regional law firm and one of the largest law firms in the country.

“As a former member of the partnership board, former business department manager and the current regional managing partner of the Halifax office, I have had the significant honour and privilege of having collaborated with some of the region’s, and country’s, most accomplished lawyers and leaders,” said Lydia. “The firm has never been stronger and we will continue to grow and evolve alongside our clients and partners in Atlantic Canada and beyond.”

About Stewart McKelvey
As one of the largest law firms in Canada and Atlantic Canada’s first regional law firm, Stewart McKelvey acts for local, national and international clients. Its team of more than 200 lawyers across four Atlantic provinces share a single objective – the best results for its clients.