Top Lawyers In Canada

Pascale Fournier

Professor & research seat, legal pluralism and comparative legislation, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa, Ont. Fournier has achieved international fame for her groundbreaking work on sex, faith, and the law, together with fieldwork interviews with women from various countries to emphasize the intricate interplay between spiritual and secular law. She's received numerous national and international awards and nominations in 2014. Fournier became a fellow of the prestigious International Women's Forum because of her job as a leader in the legal profession; getting 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 into the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission. What Republicans needed to say: Outstanding mind, according [to] Harvard's Prof. Kennedy.

Justice Murray Sinclair

Chairman, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Winnipeg, Man. A rare write-in candidate winner with this year's Best 25, Sinclair was on the list this past year, making headlines in June with the release of this overview of the record of the TRC along with 94 recommendations to remedy the cultural genocide of Canada's residential school system. Over six years, Sinclair directed the TRC hearing the tales of over 7,000 survivors of sexual, physical, and mental abuse. Sinclair, who was 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 at 2001. He was co-commissioner of Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in 1988 and presided over a 2000 inquest into the deaths of 12 babies 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 indigenous rights fulltime, go to website .

Frank Iacobucci

Senior counsel, Torys LLP, Toronto, Ont. This heated justice has set the bar for authorities treatment of the mentally ill. His 2014 milestone report outlined 84 sound ways of helping prevent shooting of mentally ill people by the Toronto Police. The implementation of this report would go a long way toward avoiding disastrous confrontations between police and emotionally disturbed individuals. Some of the recommendations include using body-worn cameras and enhanced use of tasers. The report is a strong message that the status quo is no more okay. As a Torys counselor, Iacobucci is used to advising government and company on important legal and policy issues. What Republicans needed to say: Has anybody actually done more? and Energetic, never stops.

Justice Beverley McLachlin

Chief justice, Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa, Ont. A common member of the Top 25 list and 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 led by McLachlin is the earliest of its kind in the history of British Columbia. This past year the Supreme Court of Canada granted announcement of aboriginal title to over 1,700 square kilometres of land. She's responsible for upholding the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Keewatin v. Ontario (Natural Resources) published in July 2014, she has what the Lamer court began and has left her mark in this area for decades ahead. The chief justice continues to be a highly effective proponent of justice for all Canadians. As her unbelievable amount of votes once more this season show, McLachlin is greatly admired not only for her rulings but her public aid in favour of free speech, diversity, and inclusive leadership. What voters had to say: A brilliant judge that, time and time again, marries the legislation with common sense. Justifiably most respected legal mind in the nation; outstanding integrity; reliable public servant; obviously guided by law enforcement and also a strong ideology.