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5/6/11 12:40 AM Page 49 CCCA_V5No2_Col-News-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No2_Col-News-V1.qxd Meet Nouvelles de l’ACCJE Robert Patzelt: Service and engagement are the cornerstones of a fulfilling life for the chair of CCCA’s executive committee By Bev Cline obert Patzelt QC is a man with a lot of Rpersonality. Just check out his voicemail message: He gives callers the option of bypassing his regular greeting and listening to “This day in history” which he selects and records according to what sparks his interest. Friends and business colleagues have been known to call him, he says, just to get a histor- ical update. A thoughtful man, he views the world through the lens of the past and what it can teach now and for the future. He doesn’t live in the past,however,as his busy career and commitment to volunteerism illustrate. For Patzelt, every day is a day to give back to the legal profession and to the wider community. “Life is a tapestry you are given, and the CCCA and CBA are really part of the richness of life,” he says. In addition to his current role as chair of the CCCA executive committee, he is a past- president of the association. In 2000, he became the first in-house counsel elected to head up a branch when he became president of the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Bar Association. He also has acted as CBA’s nation- al treasurer and served as a member of the CBA national executive. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2005, Patzelt was awarded the CBA-Nova Scotia’s Distinguished Service Award for outstanding MARVIN MOORE contribution to the Canadian Bar Association in 2003 and the national CBA President’s Award in 2004. ÉTÉ 2011 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 49