Farewell to a Pioneer

This morning’s Globe and Mail carried a death notice for Alison Youngman, who spearheaded Stikeman’s Technology and Outsourcing group, dead of cancer at too early an age.

She promoted the adoption of new technologies before it was fashionable to do so. She became a self-taught expert on technology law, creating a nationally recognized Technology and Outsourcing group for Stikemans. She published widely and served her profession by co-chairing the American Bar Association Negotiated Acquisitions Committee Task Force on Joint Ventures.

She was part of the OBA’s Business Law Section on the Modernization of Business Law in Ontario.

As the Toronto Star tribute puts it, “Her route to the top of the law profession was unconventional. Born in England, she arrived in Canada in 1967 with $200 in her pocket. She started her career in 1972 as a paralegal with Stikeman Elliott in Montreal and, later, its Toronto office. Youngman was about to quit and try another career when founding partner Fraser Elliott offered to sponsor her through Osgoode Hall Law School”. She ended up as a partner. In 2004, she won the YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction award 2004 for Corporate Leadership. She early argued for Canada as a nearsourcing destination for US companies.

She’ll be missed.