Milestones
1994
2002
2010
2016
2020
2022
Joined Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP as an articling student
1994
Joined the partnership at Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP
2002
First recognized by Who's Who Legal: Canada in the area of Energy Law. Quesnel has been recognized annually since 2010
2010
First awarded 'Calgary Lawyer of the Year' in Natural Resource Law by Best Lawyers in Canada. Quesnel also received this award in 2018 and 2020
2016
Named a Leading Energy Lawyer in Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders: the Global Elite
2020
Appointed Managing Partner at Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP
2022
Finding the opportunity in change
Alicia Quesnel has always been one to look to the future.
At 11 years old, basic career testing told her she should be a lawyer. Quesnel wanted to do something interesting, so she knew whatever she chose had to challenge her and also provide her with independence. A career as a lawyer met those conditions, and she embraced her calling with signature dedication. Excited to chart a career path in the law, she’s never wavered from it.
Now, as Quesnel takes the reins as Burnet Duckworth & Palmer LLP’s first female managing partner, she is once again looking forward with great optimism and ambition.
“I’m optimistic for the future of the market and the firm’s clients in Canada,” she says. “As always, we’ll embrace transformation and continue our work with entrepreneurs and business leaders in our community across sectors, including technology, aerospace, energy, renewables and agribusiness.”
Quesnel was offered an articling position at BD&P in 1994 — with the support
of one of the firm’s first female partners — following her return to Calgary after completing her fourth degree. She dove in head first, quickly falling in love with energy law, which she calls a fascinating amalgam of old property law and modern contract law.
Interested in management from the outset, Quesnel didn’t hesitate when as a young lawyer she was asked where she imagined herself in 25 years: in James Palmer’s office, one of the firm's founders and managing partner of BD&P at the time.
“Did I have my sights set on that seat?” Quesnel says. "Probably, thinking in terms of how I’m always pushing myself to reach my full potential.”
Over nearly three decades at the firm, Quesnel developed into a powerhouse joint venture specialist, racking up over $100 billion worth of deals and projects. BD&P routinely sits across from national and international firms on some of Canada's largest M&A deals and projects and stands “at the forefront of innovation.” The philosophy of its founders — to provide clients with innovative, yet practical, legal solutions to meet evolving business needs — remains the firm's North Star.
“We're known for our ability to create arrangements that are ‘off the shelf’ — crafted based on the objectives of the client, our
“I’m successful because he allowed me to shine,” Quesnel says. “My mentors did not take the spotlight — they gave it to me and said, this is yours.”
Looking back, Quesnel calls the mid-2000s a fabulous time in her career as Canada saw significant foreign investment and she had the opportunity on several joint venture deals to craft new standards that fit Canada and the international participants entering the country. Another of her accomplishments was acting for Shell in its joint venture relationships with PetroChina, Mitsubishi and Korea Gas Corporation on the LNG Canada project. Quesnel travelled across Asia and again took
the opportunity to learn from the global legal and commercial in-house expertise within those companies.
Quesnel also learned much about leadership from watching Zawalsky navigate economic upturns and downturns, ever-accelerating technological innovations, a shifting competitive legal landscape, and transformative structural changes to the Canadian energy industry. Because of his commitment and dedication, the firm she’s inheriting not only kept up with the changes but is stronger and more resilient because of them.
Careers are made up of a number of what Quesnel calls S-curves, where starting something new requires effort, but once you put in the hard work it gets easier. Eventually, you’ve mastered your craft at that level and are ready to push for the next challenge. Quesnel now sits at the bottom of the S-curve for managing partner, and she’s eager to embrace the lessons it will bring.
“We say we don't like change, but A-type personalities like lawyers love a good challenge,” she says. “It’s about reconceptualizing change as an opportunity to grow.”
In what can be seen as a turbulent past few years, Quesnel, like Zawalsky before her, is focusing on the opportunities that accompany change. Under her leadership, the firm will embrace the common threads that run through Quesnel’s career — adaptability, reframing change as opportunity, incorporating different viewpoints — while remaining true to the core principles of BD&P that have borne it through generations of change in Alberta.
“We’re well positioned to support any transformation in our market, because we’ve supported entrepreneurs for 100 years and know what it truly means to be there when they need you at the table,” Quesnel says. “This is a transformational time for me, the firm and Alberta — and I’m tremendously excited about it.”
Spotlight
solid knowledge of fundamental legal principles, and our creativity,” Quesnel says. “We’re a small player but we pack a big punch.”
Throughout her life — and certainly her career — Quesnel has boldly seized opportunities, and at BD&P she “very purposefully and carefully looked at what leaders were doing, how they were doing it, what I liked about it, and how I could emulate it.” She soaked up a wealth of expertise working under some of the great Canadian energy lawyers, including John Brussa, partner and chair at BD&P and one of the creators of the income trust business model that “brought capital investment into the energy sector like we hadn’t seen in years.”
Quesnel also had the privilege of learning from Grant Zawalsky, a leader at the firm for more than 30 years and managing partner for the past eight. A great mentor and sponsor to her, Zawalsky saw in Quesnel an ability to take on the most complex legal matters and provide strong business guidance to her clients and the firm.
The world is changing, and it’s happening faster than ever. Businesses and people are adapting, but nobody can do it alone. Maybe it’s easier for us to keep up because we’ve always been nimble and brought creative thinking to the way we practise law.
BD&P is a full-service boutique law firm headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Our approximately 120 lawyers are bright, deeply talented legal minds who work on a broad spectrum of corporate and litigation matters, sitting across the table from national and international firms. Our clients live a variety of sectors, including energy, renewables, agribusiness, technology and life sciences.
We are not just legal advisors, we are true partners. We've been called unconventional, and we think that makes us better partners to our clients for now — and for the future.
Firm Profile
1905
YEAR FOUNDED
120+
Lawyers
14
Industries
16
Areas of practice
xx
NUMBER OF ORDERS PROCESSED IN 2019
Bio
Spotlight
Milestones
Media
Accolades
Firm Profile
Years of Experience
27
Tenure at current position
2022
Favourite quote
“Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value”
– Albert Einstein
Alicia Quesnel
Managing partner at Burnet Duckworth & Palmer LLP
Alicia Quesnel brings her own lens to a storied firm as new managing partner at Burnet Duckworth & Palmer LLP
Read on
“As always, we’ll embrace transformation and continue our work with entrepreneurs and business leaders in our community across sectors, including technology, aerospace, energy, renewables and agribusiness”
Alicia Quesnel,
Burnet Duckworth & Palmer LLP
“We say we don’t like change, but A-type personalities like lawyers love a good challenge. It’s about reconceptualizing change as an opportunity to grow”
Alicia Quesnel,
Burnet Duckworth & Palmer LLP
Share
Milestones
2011
2012
2015
2016
2019
2021
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2011
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2012
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2015
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2016
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2019
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2021
Finding the opportunity in change
Quesnel was offered an articling position at BD&P in 1994 — with the support
of one of the firm’s first female partners — following her return to Calgary after completing her fourth degree. She dove in head first, quickly falling in love with energy law, which she calls a fascinating amalgam of old property law and modern contract law.
Interested in management from the outset, Quesnel didn’t hesitate when as a young lawyer she was asked where she imagined herself in 25 years: in James Palmer’s office, one of the firm's founders and managing partner of BD&P at the time.
“Did I have my sights set on that seat?” Quesnel says. "Probably, thinking in terms of how I’m always pushing myself to reach my full potential.”
Over nearly three decades at the firm, Quesnel developed into a powerhouse joint venture specialist, racking up over $100 billion worth of deals and projects. BD&P routinely sits across from national and international firms on some of Canada's largest M&A deals and projects and stands “at the forefront of innovation.” The philosophy of its founders — to provide clients with innovative, yet practical, legal solutions to meet evolving business needs — remains the firm's North Star.
“We're known for our ability to create arrangements that are ‘off the shelf’ — crafted based on the objectives of the client, our
solid knowledge of fundamental legal principles, and our creativity,” Quesnel says. “We’re a small player but we pack a big punch.”
Throughout her life — and certainly her career — Quesnel has boldly seized opportunities, and at BD&P she “very purposefully and carefully looked at what leaders were doing, how they were doing it, what I liked about it, and how I could emulate it.” She soaked up a wealth of expertise working under some of the great Canadian energy lawyers, including John Brussa, partner and chair at BD&P and one of the creators of the income trust business model that “brought capital investment into the energy sector like we hadn’t seen in years.”
Quesnel also had the privilege of learning from Grant Zawalsky, a leader at the firm for more than 30 years and managing partner for the past eight. A great mentor and sponsor to her, Zawalsky saw in Quesnel an ability to take on the most complex legal matters and provide strong business guidance to her clients and the firm.
From those forums, a common theme arose that has plagued the industry for years: the amount of paper required in transactions.
“We have a motto to ‘axe the fax,’ and we saw this opportunity where members didn’t want their staff going into the office, but there are still physical cheques going back and forth,” Adams explains. “We put in place, in just six months, Ad-Hoc Money Movement [A$M]. We responded to the industry and are in the process of replacing cheques, which I think is awesome. We launched in January and have seen so much volume. We think ultimately we are keeping people healthier by not having to travel into the office.”
While she’s proud of the strides Fundserv made in 2020, Adams acknowledges that it was a challenging time as a leader. Not only did she have to ensure Fundserv kept running efficiently as her team transitioned to working from home, but she was also filled with concern for her team members.
“I just worried about our employees, their mental health and if they would be OK,” Adams says. “I like to see people, so I set up one-on-ones just to connect with them.
Moving forward, Adams says Fundserv’s goals remain aligned with those of its members, and her team will continue listening and understanding what members need so the organization can evolve accordingly. She adds that she wants Fundserv to be so good at providing a secure and reliable service that members forget it’s there – and she wants the company to continue to inspire change in the industry.
“It is sad that it took a pandemic to recog-nize the cheque issue and solve it,” Adams says. “What we will do in the future is root out those things in the industry and not wait for a pandemic to ignite change. There is no reason we can’t change. Change, like auto-mation, will accelerate from now, and we’ll do our part to keep it going.”
Spotlight
Firm Profile
Years of Experience
27
favourite quote
“Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value”
– Albert Einstein
Karen Adams
President and CEO at Fundserv
Before becoming CEO of Fundserv, Karen Adams held a variety of leadership roles around the world – and she learned that listening and understanding are key to both providing service and developing talent
Read on
Share
Share
Milestones
2011
2012
2015
2016
2019
2021
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2011
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2012
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2015
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2016
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2019
Curabitur feugiat eget leo id tempus. Maecenas commodo, nibh at ultricies pulvinar, ipsum erat porta metus, et tempus justo tellus euismod dolor.
2021
Firm Profile
Years of Experience
27
favourite quote
“Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value”
– Albert Einstein
Karen Adams
President and CEO at Fundserv
Before becoming CEO of Fundserv, Karen Adams held a variety of leadership roles around the world – and she learned that listening and understanding are key to both providing service and developing talent
Read on
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Copyright © 2022 Key Media
Advertise
About us
Contact us
Privacy
Terms of Use
Submit your move
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Newsletter
Digital editions
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External contributors
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14
Industries
16
Areas of practice
120+
Lawyers
1905
YEAR FOUNDED