Top Lawyers In Canada

Pascale Fournier

Professor & study seat, legal pluralism and comparative legislation, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Ottawa, Ont. Fournier has achieved international recognition for her groundbreaking work on gender, religion, and the legislation, using fieldwork interviews with women from various countries to emphasize the intricate interplay between religious 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; getting the Canada-Arab Chamber of Commerce Award for academic excellence and contribution to humankind.   Fournier represented the University of Ottawa as an effective leader at 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 voters had to say: Superb thoughts, according [to] Harvard's Prof. Kennedy.

Louise Arbour

Counsel, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Montreal, Que. An international lawyer who has just settled in Canada, Arbour has certainly earned a place on the Canadian Lawyer's Top 25 Most Influential record again this year.  She's a winner of the 2015 Simons Foundation Award, recognizing world leaders who form and create an environment for a much safer and more just world.  Arbour has spoken out against protracted use of solitary confinement and has been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.   She has been a Supreme Court of Canada judge, an global war crimes prosecutor, and a law school professor.  Her ability to pick things up quickly led her into various roles nationally and internationally.   Arbour says economic disparities between and within counties is that the number-one inexcusable human rights issue right now.  Constantly craving new and challenging surroundings, only last year she finally did something she hadn't ever done: joined a law firm in Montreal where she proceeds to struggle for human rights. What voters had to state:Her stunning contributions speak for themselves.  International celebrity.

Sheila Block

Partner, Torys LLP, Toronto, Ont. One of the sharpest litigators in the nation, Block has served as lead counsel on a newly dismissed $5-billion class action lawsuit against CIBC plus a $100-million lawsuit brought by approximately 8,000 residents of Barbados from Manulife.   She was also staunch counsel for former Manitoba associate chief justice Lori Douglas from the question of this judge's character in a scandal involving her deceased husband, one of his former customers, and salacious photographs of herself posted online.  Block also received an honorary LLD from the Law Society of Upper Canada this year.  An urge dedicated to teaching law in Canada and across the world, she's coached advocates for the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda and the Special Court in Sierra Leone. What voters had to say: Elle demontre son interet a la fois pour l'schooling du publique et des affaires.  (She has shown her fascination for the education of the public and business.)

Allison Dellandrea

Crown counsel, Ministry of the Attorney General,Toronto, Ont.   Dellandrea has been a key player in advancing the understanding of crimes against children by law enforcement officers, fellow attorneys, and the judiciary.  She had been included in a child sexual abuse case in March where Ontario's former deputy education minister Ben Levin pleaded guilty to child porn related fees.  The fees included making composed child porn, counseling a person to commit a sexual assault, and possession of child porn.  Dellandrea's role for a Crown includes function as instruction lead for Ontario's provincial strategy on Internet crimes against children.  She's a worthy pioneer in this area within the justice section. What voters had to say: Allison is a tireless source and is the penultimate legal head for a prosecutorial place on all things related to child exploitation and sexual assault offences.  For this challenging subject that inherently entails quite taxing emotional and legal problems, Allison always has the time to offer sound guidance to additional Crowns prosecuting these very tough and sensitive offences.  Her efforts have made a tangible difference in making our society safer.