Paul Schabas | |
---|---|
66th Treasurer of the Law Society | |
In office 2016–2018 | |
Preceded by | Janet E. Minor |
Succeeded by | Malcolm M. Mercer |
Paul B. Schabas is a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. [1]
Prior to his appointment to the bench,he was senior litigation partner at Blake,Cassels &Graydon LLP in Toronto and was one of Canada's leading barristers. In addition to a busy commercial litigation practice,Paul acted for clients on arbitrations,white collar criminal and regulatory matters,constitutional,media and public law cases. For thirty years he represented Canada’s major media organizations on defamation,copyright,access to information and free expression matters. Paul was counsel on leading Charter and human rights cases,many before the Supreme Court of Canada. Paul is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers,and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. (citations needed)
In June 2018,Paul completed two years as the 66th Treasurer (President) of the Law Society of Ontario, [2] the regulator of the province’s 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 licensed paralegals. [3] Paul was only the second lawyer from Blakes to hold this distinguished position,the first being Edward Blake,the firm's founding partner,who was Treasurer from 1879 to 1893. [4] Prior to being elected Treasurer,Paul was a bencher of the Law Society,elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2011 and 2015. As a bencher,he served as chair of the Professional Regulation Committee,the Proceedings Authorization Committee,the Human Rights Monitoring Group,and the Access to Justice Committee. He was a member of the Equity and Indigenous Affairs,Tribunals and Finance Committees,and the Articling and Mentoring Task Forces. He also chaired numerous panels of the Law Society Tribunal,adjudicating professional conduct and licensing issues. (citations needed). As Treasurer and Bencher of the Law Society,Schabas advocated the controversial imposition on all Ontario lawyers of an obligation to expressly affirm a Statement of Principles on Equality,Diversity and Inclusion or be sanctioned by their regulator. [5] [6] [7]
An adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law,Schabas teaches a popular course on media law with Bert Bruser,a Blakes partner emeritus and counsel to the Toronto Star. [8] Schabas also served as Vice-Chair on the University Tribunal adjudicating academic offences. He previously taught trial practice at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School,and lectured at Trinity College,University of Toronto,where he taught an introductory course on law to undergraduates. He frequently speaks on a variety of legal matters at professional and academic gatherings in Canada,the United States and abroad. Schabas has published numerous articles,from scholarly peer-reviewed work to op-eds in major daily newspapers. His articles have been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada on several occasions. (citations needed)
Paul is a past Trustee and Chair of the Law Foundation of Ontario,and a former Chair of Pro Bono Law Ontario,of which he was a founding director. He is a Past President of the Canadian Media Lawyers Association and a current Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association,The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History,the Canadian Journalism Foundation,and Lawyers Rights Watch Canada. He is a former Director of the Advocates' Society,Family Service Toronto and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.(citations needed)
Schabas was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1986. He received an LLB from the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto in 1984. Prior to law school,in 1981 he completed an Honours BA (With Distinction) in History at University College,University of Toronto. [9] From 1976 to 1978 Schabas attended the School of Music at Indiana University (Bloomington) where he studied French Horn with Philip Farkas as a student in the B. Mus. Performance program. (citations needed)
He began his legal career as an articling student and Associate lawyer under Morris Manning QC in Toronto in 1984. His first major trial was as Mr Manning's student in Regina v. Morgentaler,Smoling and Scott,in which a jury refused to convict three physicians for operating an abortion clinic in downtown Toronto in violation of Canada's Criminal Code. As a student,and subsequently as Manning's Associate following his Call to the Bar,Schabas was co-counsel on the landmark decision of the Supreme Court in the same case which struck down Canada's abortion law under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in January 1988. While with Manning,from 1984 to 1988,Schabas practiced criminal defense,administrative and constitutional law. (citations needed)
In 1988,Schabas joined Blakes as an Associate in its Litigation Department. Over the next several years Schabas developed skills in civil litigation,municipal and environmental,estates,tax,human rights and media law,while continuing to practice in the areas of criminal and constitutional law. He worked with several eminent senior counsel including Jake Howard QC,John Brown QC,Jim McCallum QC,Russell Juriansz,Kathryn Feldman,Bert Bruser and Brian Rogers. Schabas became a partner at Blakes in 1992. Since that time Schabas has handled hundreds of cases,appearing as counsel before administrative tribunals and on trials,judicial reviews,applications and appeal in courts in Ontario,Manitoba,Newfoundland,and New Brunswick,as well as the Federal Courts,the Tax Court and the Supreme Court of Canada. Schabas has appeared in the Supreme Court on 21 occasions. In one of his prominent commercial cases,he was called out by the court in its decision for having not been truthful in an appeal about what transpired at trial. [10] [11] Prior to his appointment to the bench,he had been counsel on several domestic and international commercial arbitrations in Canada and the United States. (citations needed)
In April 2019,Schabas was appointed as a Judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. [1] In 2023 Schabas upheld an order of the College of Psychologists of Ontario,Jordan Peterson's regulatory body,that Peterson take social media training in the wake of complaints about his controversial online posts and statements. [12] [7]
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals,drafting legal pleadings,researching the law and giving legal opinions.
The Law Society of Ontario is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada,its name was changed by statute in 2018.
Frank Iacobucci is a former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 until his retirement from the bench in 2004. He was the first Italian-Canadian,allophone judge on the court. Iacobucci was also the first judge on the Supreme Court to have been born,raised and educated in British Columbia. Iacobucci has had a distinguished career in private practice,academia,the civil service and the judiciary.
Peter deCarteret Cory,was a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada,from 1989 to 1999.
Gordon Fripp Henderson,was a Canadian intellectual property lawyer who joined the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in 1937,and later became its chairman. He was known for his advocacy on intellectual property matters as well as his involvement in intellectual property organizations throughout his career. Henderson's contribution to the development of Canadian and international jurisprudence is described as one of the most significant in Canadian legal history.
John Wellington Gwynne, was a Canadian lawyer and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
John Douglas Arnup,was a Canadian judge on the Court of Appeal for Ontario,who is best known for having pioneered universal legal aid in Ontario.
Sir Charles Michael Dennis Byron is a former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice. He also serves as President of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute,and is former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR),and former Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He was born in Basseterre,Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Gavin MacKenzie is a Canadian lawyer and former Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He works as a lawyer and partner at MacKenzie Barristers,a boutique litigation firm in Toronto,Ontario that he co-founded with his daughter,Brooke. MacKenzie's practice focuses primarily on civil appeals and professional liability litigation.
Julian Harris Porter,,is a Canadian lawyer and was Chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission from 1979 to 1987.
The Arbitration Roundtable of Toronto is made up of several litigators,academics,arbitrators,and mediators from the Greater Toronto Area. The group promotes arbitration as an alternative method of conflict resolution over litigation,especially in commercial suits. Members include commercial litigators from Toronto law firms including some of the Seven Sisters of Bay Street. Each member has experience and interest in promoting commercial Arbitration. The group dedicates its time to encouraging this form of Dispute resolution through seminars,papers,and talks.
Vern Krishna,,is a professor of law at the University of Ottawa and of counsel at TaxChambers LLP. He is the author of fourteen texts in tax,international tax,and business law,as well as numerous articles and case comments. His writings are frequently cited by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada.
William Goldwin Carrington Howland was a Canadian lawyer,judge and former Chief Justice of Ontario.
James Kirkpatrick Stewart is a Canadian lawyer with over thirty years of experience as Crown counsel handling criminal trials and appeals for the prosecution,including more than eight years working with the United Nations in international criminal law prosecutions as a trial and appellate counsel and legal manager. Stewart was nominated by Fatou Bensouda,Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague,as one of three candidates for election to the post of ICC Deputy Prosecutor (Prosecution). He was duly elected by the Assembly of States Parties on 16 November 2012 for a period of nine years. Mr Stewart was sworn in on 8 March 2013 and as Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC,he will report directly to the Prosecutor.
Joseph Groia is a Canadian lawyer specializing in securities litigation. He has been ranked as one of Canada's 500 Leading Lawyers (Lexpert) since 2000 and is consistently rated as one of Canada's top securities litigators by the same publication. He has worked on many of Canada's leading securities cases,including Asbestos Corp.,Bre-X Minerals Ltd.,Canadian Tire,Cinar Corporation,Hollinger,Torstar/Southam,Philip Services and YBM.
Harvey Thomas Strosberg,is a Canadian lawyer. He is a senior partner at the law firm of Strosberg,Sasso,Sutts LLP.
Robert Patrick Armstrong is a Canadian lawyer and retired judge. He served on the Court of Appeal for Ontario from 2002 until his retirement in 2013. Before serving on the bench,Armstrong was a partner at Torys and was lead counsel in the Dubin Inquiry on steroid use in Canadian sports. After leaving the bench,Armstrong joined Arbitration Place,a Canadian group specializing in alternative dispute resolution.
A. Boyd Ferris was a Canadian lawyer practising in Vancouver,British Columbia. He served as president of the British Columbia branch of the Canadian Bar Association,and then as the national president of the CBA. He was also active in politics,being a major supporter of Pierre Trudeau in his campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada,and in the 1968 general election.
Malcolm M. Mercer is a Canadian lawyer who served as Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario from June 2018 until June 2020. He was first elected as Treasurer of the Law Society on June 28,2018,and re-elected on June 27,2019. The Treasurer is the highest elected official of the Law Society of Ontario,which regulates Ontario’s 50,000 lawyers and paralegals in the public interest. The Treasurer presides over Convocation,the Law Society’s governing board,chairing and setting the agenda for its meetings and establishing Convocation committees. The Treasurer is elected each year at the June meeting of Convocation. Treasurers generally serve two terms.
Mary Anne Eberts is a Canadian constitutional lawyer and a former University of Toronto Faculty of Law faculty member. She is a founding member of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)