Top Lawyers In Canada In 2019

Wayne Myles

Counsel, Cox & Palmer, St. John's, N.L. Myles' recent claim to fame is the $3-billion international merger of Barbados-based Columbus International Inc. with England-based Cable & Wireless Communications PLC.. His M&A expertise, together with his dedicated client connections, haven't only resulted in the greatest deal in the telecommunications firm 's history, but demonstrated that significant foreign prices are being deftly managed by an Atlantic Canadian law firm. He's also acted as lead counsel and strategic advisor on several acquisitions, licensing, and funding of many subsea and terrestrial telecommunications businesses in the international fish processing and marketing sector. Myles also advised on aviation issues, on many domestic and international business insolvency and restructuring jobs and on power and transportation matters. What Republicans needed to say:[An] outstanding attorney with international vision. Massive asset to any trade.

Pascale Fournier

Professor & research chair, legal pluralism and comparative legislation, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa, Ont. Fournier has attained international recognition for her groundbreaking work on sex, religion, and the law, together with fieldwork interviews with women from various countries to highlight the complex interplay between spiritual and secular law. She's received numerous national and global awards and nominations in 2014. Fournier became a fellow of the prestigious International Women's Forum because of her role as a pioneer in the legal profession; receiving the Canada-Arab Chamber of Commerce Award for academic excellence and contribution to humanity. Fournier represented the University of Ottawa as a successful pioneer in the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference and was unanimously appointed by the National Assembly of Quebec to the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission. What Republicans needed to say: Superb mind, according [to] Harvard's Prof. Kennedy.

Lorne Waldman

Waldman & Associates, Toronto, Ont. Waldman is a great defender of refugees, immigrants, and human rights. He has won a variety of significant victories, including healthcare for refugees in Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care v. Canada along with a female 's best to wear the niqab while producing her citizenship oath in Ishaq v. Canada with his associate Naseem Mithoowani. He also argued at the Supreme Court of Canada at J.P. v. Canada and G.J. v. Canada, that Canada's anti-human smuggling provisions must include asylum seekers participating in mutual aid. Along with Peter Edelmann, he acted on behalf of the CBA from the Harkat case prior to the SCC at 2014. On the international stage, he symbolizes Mohamed Fahmy (along with Amal Clooney), the Canadian journalist working for Al Jazeera. He has also been a vocal opponent of Bill C-51 and modifications to Canada's citizenship law. What voters had to say: Lorne reminded us all, particularly today, to preserve democracy and to maintain the rule of law, Gabriel Krikunez.

Justice Murray Sinclair

Chairman, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Winnipeg, Man. A rare write-in candidate winner for this season 's Best 25, Sinclair was on the list this past year, making headlines in June with the launch of this overview of the report of the TRC and 94 recommendations to remedy the cultural genocide of Canada's residential school system. Over six years, Sinclair led the TRC hearing the stories of more than 7,000 survivors of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. Sinclair, that had been the first aboriginal judge in Manitoba, was initially appointed to the provincial court where he became associate chief in 1988 and then raised to the Court of Queen's Bench in 2001. He was co-commissioner of Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in 1988 and presided over a 2000 inquest into the deaths of 12 infants at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre. Sinclair expects to finish the commission's complete report in the near future, after which he will decide whether to return to court or retire and advocate for native rights fulltime.

Justice Beverley McLachlin

Chief justice, Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa, Ont. A frequent member of the Top 25 list along with also the very best vote-getter in years ago, McLachlin proceeds to make waves, handing down two very significant decisions on aboriginal law. The 2014 Tsilhqot'at Nation v. British Columbia decision directed by McLachlin is the earliest of its type in the history of British Columbia. This past year that the Supreme Court of Canada granted declaration of aboriginal title to over 1,700 square kilometres of land. She is responsible for upholding the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal at Keewatin v. Ontario (Natural Resources) published in July 2014, she has overhauled what the Lamer court started and has left her mark in this region for decades to come. The chief justice continues to be a highly effective proponent of greater justice for all Canadians. As her incredible amount of votes once more this season reveal, McLachlin is greatly admired not just for her rulings but her public aid in favour of free speech, diversity, and inclusive leadership. What voters had to say: A brilliant judge who, time and time again, marries the legislation with common sense. Justifiably most respected legal mind in the country; remarkable integrity; reliable public servant; clearly guided by law enforcement and a strong moral compass.