Leadership Lunch with Ambassador John Hannaford

(Oct. 21, 2010) Canada’s ambassador to Norway, John Hannaford, JD  ’93, took part in a “Leadership Lunch” today,  a Faculty of Law program where visiting alumni have an informal lunch with students and talk about their career track, in or outside traditional law practice.

Hannaford spoke on the many varied roles for lawyers in Canada’s foreign service, highlighting three areas advocates focus on primarily: bilateral and multilateral negotiations; advisory work and litigation.

He told the group of 22 students of the stimulating work environment, said learning new subject areas was a de facto part of the job, as was working with domestic and international lawyers across the department of foreign affairs and the justice ministry.

A Q & A session followed the talk, where students asked about treaty negotiations, interactions with other departmental lawyers, language requirements, work/life balance and foreign service life in general.