Darrel I. Pink, of the Nova Scotia Bar, recently retired as Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, a position he held from 1990 to 2018. He carried out the Society’s Strategic Framework and led the initiative to transform the regulation and governance of the legal profession in Nova Scotia. In his time as CEO of the legal regulator he led significant initiatives involving justice, human rights and equity initiatives, access to justice and enhancing the administration of justice, and governance reform and organizational effectiveness.
Darrel teaches professional responsibility at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, and has been a frequent presenter to other law societies across Canada and internationally as well as at organizations such as CNAR and CLEAR.
He has regularly participated in the work of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. He was most recently a member of the Federation’s Model Code of Conduct Committee and the National Admission Standards Steering Committee.
In 2012, Darrel co-edited a book, Why Good Lawyers Matter (Toronto: Irwin Law), with the Hon. Justice Thomas A. Cromwell, Supreme Court of Canada, and David L. Blaikie, Assistant Professor, Schulich School of Law.
Extensive community involvement includes serving on the national board of directors of VON Canada. He was deeply involved in Volunteer Canada, including several years as Chair; seven years on the board of the Metro United Way (Halifax), including two as Chair; and on the founding Board of Directors of CanLII, including a term as Chair. He currently is a public member of the Council of the Nova Scotia Association of Architects and is on the Board of the Spring Garden Area Business Association.
The Province of Nova Scotia presented Darrel with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in December 2012. The Canadian Race Relations Foundation featured Darrel as a “Visionary Volunteer” in its “150 Stories” series, which celebrated Canada’s Sesquicentennial in 2017. He was nominated by United Way Halifax. The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) chose Darrel as its first “Access to Justice All-Star” from Nova Scotia in October 2014. In August 2017, Canadian Lawyer magazine selected Darrel as one of Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential lawyers and judges, in the Government / Non-Profit / Associations category, stating that “the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society is leading Canada in regulatory innovation” under his leadership. The Canadian Association of Legal Ethics (CALE) presented its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Darrel in October 2017. The national organization created the new award “to recognize sustained accomplishments in the field of legal ethics and professionalism by a member of CALE”.
Darrel is practising in association with Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc.