Local Lawyers Become Judges
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Two Windsor lawyers have been called to the bench.
Jennifer E. Bezaire, Managing Partner at Greg Monforton & Partners Injury Lawyers in Windsor, has been appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Windsor.
Bezaire was raised in Amherstburg and attended the University of Windsor, receiving an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1998 and her law degree in 2001. While at university, she received numerous academic awards, most notably the university’s Board of Governor’s Medal in 1999 and 2000.
She articled and was an associate lawyer at Fraser, Milner, Casgrain LLP (now Dentons LLP) in Toronto. In 2004, she returned home to Essex County and joined Greg Monforton & Partners, where she practiced injury law exclusively. In 2013, she joined the firm’s partnership, and in 2022, she became the managing partner.
Bezaire was also an active volunteer. Most recently, she was an Executive Member of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, an appointee to the Ontario Civil Rules Committee, a member of the Product Technical Advisory Committee of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, and co-chair of the Windsor-Essex Bench and Bar Committee. She was also a sessional instructor at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, where she taught Automobile Insurance Law to upper-year law students.
She lives in Amherstburg with her husband, three children and their beloved puppy. She enjoys time with family and travelling and is learning to navigate the Essex County waterways as a new boater.
In addition, Jason P. Howie, Partner at Howie Johnson Barristers & Solicitors in Windsor, has been appointed a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Sarnia.
Howie graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor in 1987. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1989.
He started as an associate at Wilson Walker Hochberg Slopen (now Miller Canfield). He soon focussed his practice on family law and went on to open his own practice. His partner, Amy Johnson, joined his practice in 2016 after articling at his firm.
Howie was a member of The Advocates’ Society, the Essex Law Association, and the Essex County Family Law Lawyers Association, where he served as president and vice president. He led a committee to reconstitute this Association as the Family Law Association of Windsor following the COVID-19 outbreak. He was a long-time member of the Essex County Superior Court of Justice Bench Bar Committee. He was selected as a representative to the Provincial Family Law Working Group of the Superior Court of Justice. He was an instructor of the Bar Admissions Course [London and Windsor] in the areas of professional responsibility and family law. He presented to the Middlesex Law Association, Ontario Bar Association, and the Law Society of Ontario. He participated as a Mentor for the Law Society of Ontario Coach/Mentor program. During his practice, he appeared at all levels of Court in Ontario. He was recognized as a leading lawyer in peer-reviewed legal publications.
He has been married for 36 years and is very proud of his two adult children. He refined his skills in conflict resolution as a high school and college basketball referee.
