Chief Justice Richard Wagner, Supreme Court of Canada

Richard Wagner was born in Montreal on April 2, 1957. He studied at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal and obtained his Diploma of College Studies (DEC) in 1975. He earned a Bachelor of Social Sciences (B.Soc.Sc.) with a major in Political Science from the University of Ottawa in 1978, graduating cum laude. He received a Licentiate in Laws (LL.L.) from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law in 1979, also graduating cum laude.

Richard Wagner was called to the Quebec Bar in 1980 and practised law until being appointed to the Quebec Superior Court on September 24, 2004.  He was a partner in the law firm of Lavery, de Billy (formerly Lavery, O’Brien and Lavery, Johnston, Clark, Carrière, Mason & Associés) from 1980 to 2004.  His practice there focused mainly on professional liability of lawyers, accountants, architects and engineers, and on commercial litigation related in particular to real estate law, oppression remedies and class action suits.  He argued cases before all the Quebec courts and quasi-judicial tribunals, as well as before the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada.
 
A member of the Canadian Bar Association from 1980 until he was appointed to the bench in 2004, he sat on the board of the Association’s Quebec Branch and was president of, among others, the Construction Law Section.
 
In June 2005, he received the Barreau du Québec’s Award of Merit in recognition of his contribution to the legal profession and, in particular, to the creation of the Centre d’accès à l’information juridique (CAIJ) which has provided access to legal information for members of the profession throughout Quebec since 2002.  He was a member of the CAIJ’s board of directors and its vice-president until being appointed to the Quebec Superior Court.

On September 24, 2004, Richard Wagner was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court for the District of Montréal, where he sat in the Civil Division, the Commercial Division and the Criminal Division.  He was appointed to the Quebec Court of Appeal on February 3, 2011.

As a Superior Court judge, he sat on several of the court’s committees, including the judicial practice committee, which oversaw training for newly appointed judges.  He has been a member of the Judicial Conduct Review Committee and the Remuneration Committee of the Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association and has sat on its board of directors since 2011.  He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on October 5, 2012 and appointed Chief Justice of Canada, December 18, 2017.

This public lecture is by Western Law's Distinguished Speaker Series.

All are welcome.