Barriston Law honours retired lawyer with community fund

Barriston Law has set up a community fund to continue John Cockburn's legacy of community giving.

Barrie, Ontario — Barrie’s Barriston LLP is creating the Barriston Cockburn Community Fund to honour John Richard (Bud) Cockburn, Q.C., who retired in 2021 after nearly 60 years of legal practice.

Cockburn is being honoured both for his professional career and his community involvement. In his professional practice, he was presented with the Community Recognition Award from the Simcoe County Law Association in 2008, and in 2019 received the Joel Kuchar Award for Professionalism and Civility from the Ontario Bar Association.

After work hours, he served on the board and is a past chairperson of the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. Cockburn also served as a board member of the Ontario Safety League, spearheading and chairing the development of Collier Place, and co-chairing Leadership Gifts – Capital Fundraising for Hospice Simcoe. Cockburn remains an active member and past president of the Rotary Club of Barrie-Huronia.

“Barriston truly cares about the impact that we make on the communities in which we live and work,” said Joanne McPhail, managing partner at Barriston Law. “Nobody takes this to heart more than Bud (John). On top of his busy legal practice, he spent his entire adult life supporting his community.

“We wanted to honour him in a way that truly reflected his character and commitment and we felt that a legacy community fund spoke perfectly to that.”

The Barriston Cockburn Community Fund provides a place for the firm to make charitable donations, on top of the roughly $105,000 in community donations and not-for-profit organization sponsorships the firm makes each year.

By making these donations through the fund, the firm helps to create a larger impact through the investments on the capital of the fund’s endowment.

The fund was established in 2022, and the first dividend payment was made in December 2024 to Rainbows Canada, an organization that is near and dear to Cockburn’s heart.