Canadian Lawyer

w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 27 collegiality, and his personality will be helpful to him in pur- suing that." Wagner was a "very collegial" bench mate on the Supreme Court of Canada, says Marshall Rothstein, now a tax litigation partner at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP who sat on the high court with Wagner for three years. "When we had cases [to decide] and he thought that there was some value in communicating with me about the case, he'd come into my office, or I'd go into his, and we'd exchange views. I know there were cases in which we'd disagree, and we'd discuss it, but always in a respectful way. … "He was always open to talk, he was never dogmatic, [and] he had common sense. I enjoyed working with him." Nicholas Kasirer, a justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal who sat on that bench with Wagner for a year and a half in 2011 and 2012, says his friend "has that combination of charisma and respect for others that comes with [his] natural leadership qualities. "My guess is that he'll be a force for bringing people together . . . that in the same spirit of clar- ity and access to justice" that Wagner champions, "the law will emerge clearly and simply; and I expect the Supreme Court to speak with a strong voice during his tenure." Beginnings Wagner was born in Montreal in 1957 to Claude Wagner and the former Gisèle Normandeau. He learned about justice and the law — and public service — at his father's knee, and family became important to him from a young age, he has said. His grandfather died in 1957 (the year of Wagner's birth) and his grandmother came to live with them then, giving him "two mothers," of whom his grandmother outlived his mother. "His father had a busy schedule and died early in his life [Rich- ard Wagner was just 22 when his father died in 1979], so I think it was very positive for him to have his mother, grandmother and later wife in his life," says the chief justice's son, Charles Wagner, who is now an associate in labour and employment law at Fasken Martin- eau DuMoulin LLP in Montreal. The influence of his father was strong. Claude Wagner "was not only a member of the Legislative Assembly, but a parliamentarian," Kasirer says. He was a lawyer, judge, Liberal justice minister of Quebec and federal Progressive Conservative MP who, in addition to being very prominent in public life in Quebec, had an interest in issues across the country. "His devotion to his father says a lot about who he is," says Sophie Bourque, a justice of the Quebec Superior Court in Mon- treal, who sat on that bench with Wagner from 2005 to 2011. "His father was a politician, which is all about being at the service of the community," she says. "Because of his family environ- ment and because of his father, he has a very deep understanding of public service. And for him, justice is all about public service." Wagner was educated by Jesuits at the Collège Jean-de- Brébeuf in Montreal, which counts prime ministers Pierre Trudeau and Justin Trudeau among its alumni, as well as Quebec premiers Robert Bourassa and Pierre-Marc Johnson. He later graduated cum laude from the University of Ottawa with two degrees: a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in 1978 and a Licen- tiate in Laws degree in 1979. From private practice to the bench After being called to the Quebec bar in 1980, Wagner joined the law firm of Lavery, de Billy in Montreal, where his practice focused largely on professional liability and on commercial litigation related to real estate, oppression rem- edies and class actions. His first appearance before the Supreme Court was in 1983; Wagner was then 26 years old and has described himself as "very nervous." "In those days," he says, "for lead cases, the lawyers had to present motions in the Supreme Court before three judges," and the high court heard just one appeal per day. "It was quite an experience; I loved it." Raymond Doray, who is head of the information law practice for Lavery Lawyers in Mon- treal, describes his former partner of 18 years as not only a skilled lawyer and litigator but very versatile. "He could argue almost any- thing easily, could just read a file and go to court, even if it was not an area of law he was familiar with," says Doray, whose office was adjacent to Wagner's. "He was always well prepared; the kind of guy who was at the office at 4:35 in the morning." Wagner was very efficient in court, Doray notes, and made short arguments. "He's very clear and very direct, which is not that frequent for lawyers sometimes; they want to give details, there's a preliminary comment. That's not Richard; he would go right to the point." Bourque, who tries criminal cases on the bench of the Que- bec Superior Court of Justice, likewise saw her old colleague as efficient and versatile, as well as curious. With a background largely in civil litigation, Wagner didn't have to agree to sit in the criminal chambers of the Quebec Superior Court, Bourque says. "But he made a choice to sit in the criminal chamber, to sit on murder-jury trials. He was curious abut that, interested in that and did it with his full capacity." Kasirer sees intellectual curiosity as one of Wagner's qualities that is relevant to his mandate as chief justice of Canada. "He was a commercial lawyer, doing commercial litigation [and he] was immensely respected in his office and in the practice of law," says Kasirer. It would have been easy for Wagner to content himself with the largest corner office and becoming managing partner of his firm, he adds, but he decided to become a trial judge. "Quite early in the going he opted to do criminal trials, and in particular trials with juries," Kasirer says. "This is something he had had no particular training for in his practice. He committed an "He's very clear and very direct, which is not that frequent for lawyers sometimes; they want to give details, there's a preliminary comment. That's not Richard; he would go right to the point."

• Cover