Justice George Strathy, LLB 1974, appointed Ontario Chief Justice

Alumnus and Court of Appeal for Ontario Justice George R. Strathy, LLB 1974, has been appointed Chief Justice of Ontario’s Court of Appeal, effective immediately.

Strathy was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to replace Chief Justice Warren W. Winkler, who retired last year. In April 2013, Justice Strathy was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, after serving in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Toronto region, for five years overseeing civil, criminal and class action matters.

National Post legal columnist Drew Hasselback wrote: “Because the class action procedure is a relatively new area of law in Ontario, Justice Strathy helped produce a flow of influential decisions that have established the foundation for the way class actions are practised in the province.”

...Justice Strathy helped produce a flow of influential decisions that have established the foundation for the way class actions are practised in the province.” --National Post

Prior to his career on the bench, he was a partner at MacKinnon, McTaggart, Campbell Godfrey and Lewtas, and also the firm of Fasken Martineau Walker before establishing his own firm in 1991, which ultimately became Strathy & Isaacs. In his practice, he specialized in civil litigation, with a focus on  maritime and transportation law. He was active in many professional organizations, including the Canadian Bar Association (chair of the Young Lawyers’ Division and member of the executive committee), the Canadian Maritime Law Association (vice-president), the Canadian Association of Maritime Arbitrations (vice-president), and the Canadian Association of Average Adjusters (chair). He is the author of The Law and Practice of General Average in Canada and The Law and Practice of Marine Insurance in Canada.

Justice Strathy is a double alumnus of the University of Toronto, with an MA in international relations, 1971, and a Faculty of Law degree, where he was the dean’s gold medal winner. His undergraduate degree is from McGill University.