City Solicitor Receives Osgoode Hall Alumni Gold Key Award

Mississauga City Solicitor, Mary Ellen Bench is the recipient of a 2016 Osgoode Hall Law School Gold Key Award in the Public Sector category. The award was presented Wednesday evening at the Dean’s Annual Alumni Reception at Osgoode Hall, Toronto.

The Gold Key Awards honour outstanding Osgoode alumni for their exceptional professional achievements and significant contributions to the Law School and the community.

“I am extremely proud that Mary Ellen has been recognized by her alma mater for her passion and dedication to the public sector,” said Janice Baker, City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer. “This award is reflective of the commitment, professionalism and high standard of service Mary Ellen has given to the City.”

Bench was one of the first lawyers in Canada to be certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in Municipal Law and she also holds the designation on Certified In-House Counsel granted by the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.  In 2012, she received the International Municipal Lawyers Association’s Bruce A. Noble Award and in 2015 the Ontario Bar Association’s Tom Marshall Award for public sector achievements. Called to the bar in 1986, Bench has spent most of her career in municipal law, practising at the City of Toronto before coming to Mississauga and in private practice before then.