Phillips Barristers PC

About Phillips Barristers PC

Phillips Barristers PC is a litigation firm based in Toronto, with additional offices in Calgary and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Toronto lawyer John Kingman Phillips, K.C. founded the practice in 2007, and the firm says its team brings more than 70 years of combined litigation experience.

The practice is plaintiff-side and focuses on class actions, civil and commercial litigation, human rights and Indigenous rights claims, and family law. Current class actions include a certified case over CBSA immigration detention, a certified challenge to Alberta's bail-hearing timelines, and a dispute over Scotiabank employee vacation pay. The firm is also co-counsel for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs in an Aboriginal title claim covering more than 6,000 square kilometres of unceded territory in northwestern British Columbia, and for Tanzanian plaintiffs in a human rights action against Barrick Mining Company.

Family law is handled separately from the litigation side by partner Julia Tremain, who spent seven years as in-house counsel with Ontario's Office of the Children's Lawyer before entering private practice. The firm's lawyers include admissions to the bar in Ontario and Alberta, and its cases have reached the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada.