William C. McDowell

About William

William McDowell is a partner at Lenczner Slaght and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, with a wide-ranging practice spanning public law, commercial litigation, and media and defamation law. From 2005 to 2008 he served as Canada's Associate Deputy Minister of Justice, overseeing civil litigation and national security matters and leading a Department of Justice team through issues arising from the 2006-2007 Aboriginal Days of Protest. After returning to private practice, he was appointed by the Chief Justice of Ontario to mediate matters stemming from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission inquiry into residential schools, and later served as Chief Commission Counsel to the City of Mississauga Judicial Inquiry. He was a joint recipient of the Department of Justice National Award for his work resolving the Maher Arar v Canada case. Will has taught trial advocacy at Queen's and Osgoode Hall law schools and was elected in 2023 to a third term as a Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988 and holds an LL.B. from the University of Toronto and a B.A. in Political Studies from Queen's University.

Practice areas

Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Education & credentials

Law school

University of Toronto