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Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister Helen Conway Ottenheimer has two new letters after her name — K.C.
An elected MHA for Harbour Main since 2019, Conway Ottenheimer is one of 10 people to receive the coveted King’s Counsel designation this year — a decision announced by the premier, and made in consultation with the legal appointments board.
To qualify, a person must have spent at least 10 years as members of the bar, gained the respect of the legal community and are in good standing with the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. A K.C. lawyer generally gets to charge higher fees, in addition to the privilege of sitting in the front row of a courtroom.
“The individuals being recognized today have made significant contributions to the legal profession in Newfoundland and Labrador,” reads a statement from Premier Tony Wakeham.
“I congratulate each of them on receiving this prestigious designation and thank them for the dedication, leadership and service they have provided over many years.”
Granting the status to a sitting justice minister is not without precedent. The Liberals bestowed the honour upon Andrew Parsons in 2017 when he was the province’s justice minister and attorney general. They also gave the designation to former justice minister Felix Collins in the same ceremony.
According to Conway Ottenheimer’s bio, she graduated from Detroit College of Law in 1990 and was called to the Michigan state bar in 1991. She was called to the Bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1996, and in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2006.
She worked as a criminal defence lawyer in Windsor, Ont., where she also taught law courses at the University of Windsor. Conway Ottenheimer has also taught at Memorial University and Queen’s University.
The designation was also given to Gerrie Smith, a deputy minister with the Department of Justice and Public Safety who is also the province’s deputy attorney general.
Smith — who hails from the Port au Port Peninsula — has worked extensively with various government departments dating back to 1998. She was a legislative consultant for the Department of Health and Community Services during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being appointed an assistant deputy minister of public safety and correctional services in 2022.
She was named to her current role in November of 2025, days after Wakeham’s government took office.
The other recipients are:
- Richard Collins, partner of Moores and Collins Law Office
- John C. Crosbie, partner at Morrow Morrow and Crosbie Lawyers
- Herbert Edwards, legal advisor to provincial government
- James Goudie of James Goudie Law Office
- John Hartery, Legal Aid NL
- Karen J. O’Reilly, Special Prosecutions Office
- Deanne M. Penney, managing partner Penney and Brown Law
- David S. Williams, managing partner of O’Dea Earle Law Offices
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