Chris Wayland is a partner in our Litigation Group in Toronto.
Chris joined the firm after clerking for the Hon. Mr. Justice Peter Cory of the Supreme Court of Canada and completing graduate studies (the BCL) at Oxford. He is trained in both common law and civil law and is bilingual.
Chris acts as counsel for a wide range of clients, from public companies to municipal councils to individuals, in a broad variety of civil litigation, including significant commercial, environmental, municipal, and medical malpractice disputes. He is also an active criminal defence counsel, having successfully defended very serious criminal cases and quasi-criminal cases, including complex white collar fraud cases.
Chris has successfully conducted numerous trials. Most recently, Chris successfully defended the former CFO of a major public company in a five month fraud case resulting in the complete exoneration of all the accused. Chris has also prosecuted and defended numerous cases before administrative tribunals.
An experienced appellate lawyer and member of our Appellate Law Group, Chris has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada multiple times on behalf of important public interest advocacy groups in precedent-setting constitutional and public law cases. In 2010, Chris was awarded a Lexpert Zenith Award for pro bono contributions in the field of civil liberties, specifically for his work as counsel to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Chris is Chair of the Ontario Bar Association Criminal Justice Section and Secretary and Trustee of the Toronto Lawyers Association. Chris is a also a member of the Advocates Society, the Criminal Lawyers Association, the Medico-Legal Society of Toronto, and Thomas More Lawyers' Guild.
Supreme Court of Canada Appeals
· R. v. Tse: Chris appeared as lead counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on an intervention on this appeal, which involved the constitutionality of a section of the Criminal Code permitting the setting up of wiretaps without a warrant. The decision is pending;
· R. v. Cornell, [2010] 2 S.C.R. 142: Chris was lead counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on an intervention in this important case involving the constitutional limits on the "hard entry" technique of executing search warrants;
· R. v. Suberu, [2009] 2 S.C.R, 460: Chris was lead counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on an intervention in this appeal in respect of the scope of the right to counsel in the context of investigative detentions;
· R. v. McNeil, [2009] 1 S.C.R. 66: Chris appeared on behalf of the Criminal Lawyers Association on an intervention in this appeal in respect of the accused's entitlement to production of the investigating police officer's discipline and employment records;
· R. v. Clayton and Farmer, [2007] 2 S.C.R. 725: Chris appeared on behalf of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on an intervention in this appeal involving the right of police to search incidental to a roadblock;
· R. v. A.M., [2008], 1 S.C.R. 569 Chris appeared on behalf of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on interventions in both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario on this case involving the right of police to conduct warrantless searches in schools;
· R. v. Déry, [2006] 2 S.C.R. 669: Chris was lead counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on an intervention in this appeal on the question of whether there exists, in Canadian law, an offence of "attempted conspiracy";
· Young v. Bella, [2006] 1 S.C.R. 108: Chris appeared on behalf of the Child Welfare League of Canada on an intervention in this appeal from a civil jury verdict - at issue was the scope of the immunity provided to persons who make mandatory reports pursuant to the child welfare legislation; and
· Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v. Canada (Attorney General), [2004] 1 S.C.R. 76: Chris appeared on an intervention on behalf of the Child Welfare League of Canada in this constitutional challenge to the provisions of he Criminal Code permitting the corporal punishment of children.
Other Selected Appeals
- Li v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (2008), 91 O.R. (3d) 630 (Div. Ct.)
- R. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (Delaware) (2007), 230 C.C.C. (3d) 72 (Ont. C.A.)
- McDonald-Wright (Litigation Guardian of) v. O'Herlihy. [2007] O.J. No. 478 (C.A.)
- Royal Bank of Canada v. Société Générale (Canada), [2006] O.J. No. 5081 (C.A.);
- Freeman-Maloy v. Marsden (2006), 79 O.R. (3d) 401 (C.A.)
- Mussani v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (2004), 248 D.L.R. (4th) 632 (Ont. C.A.)
- R. v. Li, (2004) 183 C.C.C. (3d) 48 (Ont. C.A.)
- Li v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (2004), 246 D.L.R. (4th) 538 (Ont. Div. Ct.)
- Windsor (City) v. MFP Financial Services Ltd. (2004), 247 D.L.R. (4th) 640 (Ont. C.A.)
- Incorporated Broadcasters Ltd. v. Canwest Global Communications Corp. (2003), 223 D.L.R. (4th) 627 (Ont. C.A.)