OTTAWA TORONTO ONTARIO MONTREAL QUEBEC VANCOUVER BRITISH COLUMBIA EDMONTON CALGARY ALBERTA FEDERAL COURT APPEAL TRIAL CROWN GOVERNMENT JUDICIAL REVIEW LAWYER COUNSEL LAW FIRM

WE FOCUS ON THE FEDERAL COURT & FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL

The Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal have courtrooms throughout Canada that hear challenges to actions or inaction on the part of the Government of Canada and its Boards and Tribunals, as well as disputes between private parties involving Maritime and Admiralty law and Intellectual Property. While that leaves the majority of court cases in Canada in the hands of provincial trial and appellate courts, there remains a vast jurisdiction of thousands of cases a year argued before the Federal Courts which have their own specialized sets of Rules and procedures.

Retaining the firm for your Federal Court or Federal Court of Appeal needs will lead to you receiving personalized service, a custom-developed litigation strategy, and a timely implementation of that strategy which will maximize your prospects of success regardless of the legal issues you need to bring before the Courts.

We Respect Referrals

We respect all referrals, and frequently collaborate with pre-existing legal counsel as their cases transition to either the Federal Court or Federal Court of Appeal level from lower ministerial, board, tribunal or court decisions.

Complimentary Case Evaluation

We offer a free complimentary no-obligation review of your ministerial, board, tribunal or court reasons for decision in order to determine if there might be some prospect of success in bringing that matter before the Federal Court or Federal Court of Appeal on a judicial review or appeal to challenge the decision.

No Charge for Travel

We never charge for travel time for Federal Court or Federal Court of Appeal cases that are being litigated in Ottawa, Toronto or Montreal, or which can be moved on consent to Ottawa where it is often possible to secure a much speedier hearing date.

OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE FEDERAL COURT’S UNIQUE JURISDICTION

The firm’s Senior Barrister Gordon S. Campbell has three decades of experience dealing with the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal throughout Canada. He’s practiced law in every province and territory of Canada, holds degrees from McGill in both Quebec civil law (B.C.L.) and common law (LL.B.), and pleads cases equally in both French and English. He served for almost a decade with the Department of Justice Canada’s Ontario and Atlantic Regional Offices appearing before the Federal Courts for the Crown, and now provides his clients with custom-crafted Federal Court litigation solutions, including on Indigenous and Aboriginal law issues, Maritime and Admiralty law controversies, Intellectual Property disputes, Immigration and Citizenship challenges, and claims against the Crown in Right of Canada, including reviews of decisions of federal administrative boards, tribunals and decision-makers.

Although originally established to hear cases about Admiralty, Intellectual Property, and wrongs allegedly committed by the Crown, the majority of the Federal Court's trial-level workload has more recently become immigration-related, in part because Canada accepts more immigrants per capita than any other nation on earth. While most federal court cases start in the Federal Court’s trial division, some cases proceed directly to the Federal Court of Appeal such as for appeals of Tax Court of Canada or Specific Claims Tribunal rulings. 

We regularly appear in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, and can help you with any matter that needs to proceed there. Our commitment to you is a probing evaluation of a decision maker's order, government action (or inaction), trial judgment, or intellectual property/maritime-admiralty legal issues, a frank explanation of your judicial review, trial or appeal prospects for success, and tireless commitment devoted to the advancement of your case. 

We help clients advance their legal interests in all legal subjects adjudicated by the Federal Courts, including:

  • Federal Elections;

  • Official Languages;

  • Privacy and Access to Information;

  • Environmental Assessments;

  • Public Works;

  • Public Sector Employment and the Public Service Integrity Commissioner;

  • National Security;

  • Military Discipline, Military Pensions and RCMP Discipline;

  • Private Sector Employment in Federal Works, Undertakings and Businesses;

  • Aeronautics and Transportation;

  • Fisheries and Oceans;

  • Copyright, Trademarks, Industrial designs, Integrated circuits, patents and Plant breeders’ rights, including Copyright Board rulings;

  • Customs and Trade rulings from the Canadian International Trade Tribunal;

  • Income Tax or HST/GST decisions from the Tax Court of Canada;

  • Competition Tribunal decisions;

  • Indigenous claims decisions from the Specific Claims Tribunal;

  • Indigenous & Aboriginal law, including:

    • Aboriginal title, Aboriginal rights and treaty rights, and claims for damages against the Crown;

    • Judicial review of conduct and decisions of federal bodies and tribunals that affect First Nations, Métis and Inuit;

    • Judicial review of Indigenous decision-making bodies such as elections tribunals.

  • Maritime & Admiralty Law, including:

    • Pollution or other environmental damage caused to the marine environment and fishery;

    • Collisions at sea, groundings and damage to fixed and floating objects;

    • Death and personal injury caused by or while on a ship;

    • Salvage operations and contributions to general average;

    • All nature of claims arising from carriage of goods by sea including cargo loss or damage claims;

    • Shipbuilding, repair and equipping of a ship;

    • Goods, services and materials supplied to a ship;

    • Disputes arising from charter parties relating to the use, hire and possession of a ship;

    • Limitation of liability for all maritime claims by various marine participants;

    • Towage, pilotage, transit of seaway or canals, use of port facilities;

    • Claims arising from or in connection with marine insurance, including coverage issues;

    • Marine sale, mortgage, and other security interests in a ship and other marine property and disputes with respect to possession, employment or earnings derived from a ship;

    • Seaman’s wages, property, benefits;

    • Ship and other marine property arrest, and judicial sale and subsequent adjudication, ranking of creditor claims and distribution of sale proceeds and all other issues arising from a marine insolvency;

    • Private International Law disputes arising in a maritime matter including recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards.

  • Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship decisions of Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada, or the Immigration and Refugee Board, including:

    • Decisions of all levels of the Immigration and Refugee Board, including refugee claims, inadmissibility, immigration detention and immigration appeals;

    • Decisions of immigration officers regarding applications for permanent and temporary residence;

    • Decisions regarding pre-removal risk assessment;

    • Decisions of Ministers and their delegates concerning border and immigration matters;

    • Decisions regarding immigration enforcement including removal from Canada;

    • Judicial reviews of citizenship decisions.

We also help clients correctly interpret and advocate for their rights under the over 100 statutes which confer jurisdiction upon the Federal Courts (where the firm’s Senior Barrister has previously appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada on issues of statutory interpretation), including:

Administrative Law

THE FEDERAL COURT LAWYERS

Gordon S. Campbell as the firm’s Senior Barrister served for many years as counsel at the Department of Justice Canada where he represented Federal interests in the Federal Courts, and now offers that inside understanding of process and arguments to assist private clients. Examples of his recent Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal work include:

  • challenges to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada immigration and citizenship decisions pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or the Citizenship Act;

  • return of goods seized by government under the Customs Act and Excise Act by police and the Canada Border Services Agency;

  • damage claims against government for personal injury or injury to property;

  • employment termination, disciplinary action, and administrative action including security clearance revocation against Federal Public Servants, RCMP members, and Canadian Armed Force Members;

  • marine admiralty claims.

His Federal Court practice includes Indigenous rights and treaty claims, admiralty and maritime law matters, intellectual property, and environmental assessments.

He has served as legal counsel to Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Environment Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Military Police Complaints Commission. He also served as lead negotiator of Comprehensive and Specific Claims with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. He has held specialized government roles such as Copyright Prosecutions Coordinator and Constitutional Issues Coordinator with the Federal Prosecution Service and Department of Justice, as well as served as Canada’s Director of Cryptographic Export Control Policy.

He is assisted by other experienced lawyers, law clerks and staff of the firm.