Paul Schabas

Paul B. Schabas is Treasuer Schabas_Smallcurrently serving his second year as the elected Treasurer (President) of the Law Society of Upper Canada – the governing body of Ontario’s 50,000 lawyers and 8,000 licensed paralegals. A litigation Partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto, Paul is one of Canada’s leading media lawyers, frequently representing Canadian and international media. He also handles public law, commercial litigation, arbitrations (domestic and international), white collar and regulatory defence cases. Paul has been counsel on many seminal Charter cases dealing with freedom of expression (Grant, Mentuck, Toronto Star (2005, 2010), Taylor), equality rights (Canadian Foundation for Children), judicial independence (Provincial Judges v. N.B.), and fundamental justice (Morgentaler).

He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, a Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Journalism Foundation and The Osgoode Society, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Prior to his election as Treasurer in 2016, Paul was Chair of the Law Foundation of Ontario, and a Bencher of the Law Society. He is a former President of the Canadian Media Lawyers Association and of Pro Bono Law Ontario. In 2011, Canadian Lawyer named him one of Canada’s 25 “most influential” lawyers.