Top Canadian Lawyers

Jean-Pierre Blais

Chairman, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Ottawa-Gatineau Blais is not afraid of criticism and is willing to go above and beyond in the name of customer rights. A new CRTC decision provides consumers more freedom to select TV stations of the liking as part of their cable and satellite subscriptions despite bitter opposition from Canada's cable businesses. Blais known as former Bell Media president Kevin Crull, without naming names, over reports Crull told CTV news staff to not interview him after that decision. Crull ended up apologizing for interfering in the news gathering process and later resigned. From telemarketers to telcos, Blais always aims to support the rights and needs of customers. What voters had to say: Achieving big change with consumer-minded focus. About time!

Lorne Waldman

Waldman & Associates, Toronto, Ont. Waldman is a good guardian of refugees, immigrants, and human rights. He has won a number of important victories, including health care for refugees in Canadian nurses for Refugee Care v. Canada and a woman's best to wear the niqab whilst making her citizenship oath in Ishaq v. Canada together with his associate Naseem Mithoowani. In addition, he contended at the Supreme Court of Canada in J.P. v. Canada and G.J. v. Canada, that Canada's anti-human smuggling provisions must consist of asylum seekers engaging in mutual assistance. In addition to Peter Edelmann, he acted on behalf of the CBA from the Harkat case prior to the SCC at 2014. On the international stage, he symbolizes Mohamed Fahmy (along with Amal Clooney), the Canadian journalist working for Al Jazeera. He has also been a vocal opponent of Bill C-51 and changes to Canada's citizenship law. What voters had to say: Lorne educated us all, particularly now, to preserve democracy and to maintain the rule of law, canada immigration experts.

Dennis Edney and Nate Whitling

Defence counsel, Edmonton, Alta. In a rare move, Edney and Whitling have been named as Best 25 honourees as a team. Both have spent over a decade advocating for Omar Khadr, almost universally on a pro bono basis. From Guantanamo Bay to the Supreme Court of Canada (three times), the improbable duo have fought for Khadr to have him released from prison (success in May), have him treated as a child soldier, and otherwise continue to battle for his lawful rights at home and overseas. It's been what the Globe and Mail called waging a war of legal attrition from the government, which has consistently done everything to paint Khadr as a dangerous terrorist who must be held behind bars. Edney, a former soccer player who only started practising law in 40, has become the general public and media face of the continuing legal battles, even taking Khadr into his home after he was recently released on bond. Whitling, a Harvard law graduate and former SCC clerk, is a much more quiet and reserved force behind the scenes. What Republicans needed to say: Dennis has gone above and beyond the call of duty in his defence of Omar Khadr. The nobility of the profession depends on attorneys like Dennis as we are sometimes called on to defend unpopular entities or people -- but people who are no less deserving of natural justice and procedural fairness. Whitling is an intelligent and extremely effective advocate who stays out of the limelight. He is a fantastic lawyer. Exceptionally smart and excellent to use.

Orlando Da Silva

President, Ontario Bar Association, Toronto, Ont. Da Silva's heartfelt public confession of a very long and profound depression and attempted suicide has opened up discussion on mental health over the legal community like never before. Even though there's a deep-rooted stigma against mental illness eased by a dominance of type A personalities, Da Silva's brave leadership has helped develop technical support programs for attorneys who battle in silence. As if this wasn't sufficient, Da Silva has gone one step further and asked attorneys to call him personally if they need support. His fans underline that Da Silva's efforts are crucial in a business that promotes bravado and often mistakes mental illness to get an individual weakness. What voters had to say: Mr. Da Silva's bravery in grounding increasingly acknowledged mental health problems in the legal profession within their personal experience will crucially advance these concerns among lawyers and lead to positive ends.