The Barriston Cockburn Community Fund was established in 2022 by Barriston LLP to honour our partner, John Richard (Bud) Cockburn, Q.C., who retired in 2021 after nearly 60 years of legal practice.
“Barriston truly cares about the impact that we make on the communities in which we live and work,” said Joanne McPhail, Managing Partner at Barriston Law. “Nobody takes this to heart more than Bud (John). In addition to his busy legal practice, he spent his entire adult life supporting his community. We wanted to honour him in a way that truly reflected his character and commitment, and we felt that a legacy community fund spoke perfectly to that.”
John Cockburn is a Paul Harris Fellow. He was presented with the Community Recognition Award from the Simcoe County Law Association in 2008 and, in 2019, received the Joel Kuchar Award for Professionalism and Civility from the Ontario Bar Association. He served on the board of the Royal Victoria Hospital for many years (and was a past Chair). Other volunteerism includes serving as a board member of the Ontario Safety League, spearheading and chairing the development of Collier Place, and co-chairing Leadership Gifts – Capital Fundraising for Hospice Simcoe. John remains an active member (and past President) of the Rotary Club of Barrie-Huronia.
The Barriston Cockburn Community Fund provides a place for the firm to make charitable donations, in addition to the roughly $105,000 in community donations and not-for-profit organization sponsorships the firm makes each year. By making these donations through the fund, the firm also helps create a greater impact through investments in the fund’s endowment capital.