Peter Sankoff

About Peter

Peter Sankoff is Lead Counsel at Sankoff Criminal Law, a boutique firm focused on complex criminal trials, appeals, and consulting for other criminal defence lawyers. He only returned to legal practice in 2018 after a long period as an academic, but has since run more than 50 appeals across Canada, including successful arguments before the Supreme Court of Canada in R v DLW, R v Suter and R v Barton, and Alberta Court of Appeal wins including R v Churchill and R v Whiskeyjack. In 2019, alongside William van Engen, he brought a successful constitutional challenge in the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench that resulted in a Criminal Code disclosure provision being invalidated in Alberta. He is a full Professor at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Law, has written or co-edited twelve law books and more than fifty articles, and was named one of Canada's 25 Most Influential Lawyers by Canadian Lawyer Magazine in 2020. Peter graduated with a JD from the University of Toronto in 1996, worked as a law clerk to Madame Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dube at the Supreme Court of Canada, and completed a Master's degree at Osgoode Hall Law School before teaching law in New Zealand, Australia, Israel, Japan and the United States.

Education & credentials

Law school

University of Toronto

Other degrees

Master's degree, Osgoode Hall Law School