A new judge has been appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick.
Ivan Robichaud will serve as a justice in the trial division in Bathurst, the federal Department of Justice said in a news release.
He will replace J.A.R. Léger, who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective Feb. 6.
Robichaud was called the bar in 1987 and practiced in various areas of law in his hometown of Shippagan throughout his career. He was a partner with Robichaud Guignard Gauvin in Shippagan and appointed Queen's Counsel in 2005, the release said.
In addition to his law practice, Robichaud acted as an adjudicator for the New Brunswick Small Claims Court, as a public intervener before the former New Brunswick Utilities Board and as the New Brunswick expropriations advisory officer. He also chaired hearings of the Law Society of New Brunswick's discipline committee for a number of years.
Earlier this month, Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould named Justice Lucie Lavigne of the Court of Queen's Bench to the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, opening up another vacancy on the Court of Queen's Bench.
Chief Justice David Smith had asked for the province's consent to transfer one judge from Saint John to Moncton to fill the vacancy there. But under new legislation passed last year, the province has not done so.
In March, a spokesperson for Wilson-Raybould said she would appoint judges to fill the vacancies "in short order."