JSS Barristers

Since being founded in 1995, JSS Barristers has developed a strong reputation in Alberta’s legal community for its litigation and dispute resolution prowess. As Calgary’s largest civil litigation and advocacy boutiques, we have cultivated a strong practice that is often competitive with the large national and international firms. In 2022, JSS Barristers was promoted into Band 1 of the Chambers Canada guide for corporate & commercial litigation in Alberta - the only boutique firm in the band.

The firm has been named an Excellence Awardee for Litigation and Dispute Resolution Boutique Firm of the Year for two consecutive years at the Canadian Law Awards, and has consistently appeared on The Globe and Mail's list of Canada's Best Law Firms.

Starting in 2020, JSS Barristers has been representing the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights and other applicants in a judicial review application that will challenge the federal gun ban that was enacted in May 2020 by order-in-council. This continues to be a high-profile constitutional and administrative law challenge that will affect the owners and sellers of over 1,500 makes and models of “assault-style” weapons.

The firm also continues to represent the Government of Alberta, as a partner in Tobacco Recovery Lawyers LLP, in a multi-billion-dollar mass tort matter against more than a dozen international tobacco manufacturers to recover the cost of providing healthcare to Albertans with tobacco-related diseases.

The class action group at JSS Barristers has had considerable success in recent years. The firm is currently representing a number of First Nations in a class action claiming that Indian Oil and Gas Canada, an agency of the Department of Indigenous Affairs in Canada. 2023 and 2024 were highlighted by the liability and damages settlement in N.B. v Philip Heerema, the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Limited., and Calgary Stampede Foundation. Pursuant to the settlement, the Stampede Defendants accepted responsibility for all liability and agreed to pay 100% of all damages, which were later agreed upon as $9.5M. In 2023, the firm also successfully defended an appeal of certification in the class action against Hyundai. The Court of Appeal upheld certification with respect to common issues relating to negligence and breach of express warranty.

Litigation and dispute resolution account for 100% of the firm’s work.  The firm continues to enjoy significant demand for its services. This demand includes new clients, new engagements for existing clients, and increases in activity on existing engagements. The bulk of the increase in work was in the areas of complex commercial litigation, appellate work, arbitrations (as counsel and arbitrator) and mediations (as counsel and mediator), administrative law, construction, engineering, real estate and securities litigation.

In 2024, JSS Barristers was honoured with notable recognitions from Benchmark Litigation. JSS Barristers was recognized as a Highly Recommended Firm, a recognition that JSS Barristers has received for 13 consecutive years. Individually, 12 partners have been recognized as Litigation Stars, and one counsel has been recognized as a Future Star.

In the same year, seven JSS Barristers lawyers have been recognized in the 28th Edition of the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. Those lawyers were voted as the 2024 Leading Legal Practitioners across Canada based on an extensive peer survey process.

JSS Barristers was also recognized in the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada and Best Lawyers - Ones to Watch in Canada by Best Lawyers. A total of 13 lawyers, including 12 partners, were recognized as Best Lawyers. Three associates, including JSS Barristers’ newest partner, David Marshall, were recognized as Ones to Watch in Canada. Among the lawyers recognized, Robert J. Hawkes, KC was named as the 2024 Lawyer of the Year for Class Action Litigation in Calgary, Alberta.

In 2023, Lexpert recognized seven JSS Barristers lawyers in the 2023 Edition of the Canadian Legal Expert Directory in four practice areas. Former JSS Barristers partner, Oliver Ho (now Justice Ho), was listed as a Repeatedly Recommended Practitioner for Corporate Commercial Litigation. The Honourable Justice Oliver Ho was appointed to Court of King’s Bench on April 15, 2024.

Among other individual recognitions, Ryan Phillips was awarded the 2023 Benchmark Award for Emerging Talent - Alberta Litigator of the Year award by Benchmark Litigation Canada.

Finally, JSS Barristers was promoted to Double-A tier in Litigation-Calgary and Commercial Litigation-Calgary by Lexpert/ALM 500. In 2023, the firm was awarded Litigation & Dispute Resolution Boutique Firm of the Year by Lexpert.

In addition to its awards and recognition for legal performance, JSS Barristers has also been awarded for its culture and diversity. In 2024, JSS Barristers was awarded a 5 Star Diversity, Equity and Inclusion award by the Canadian HR Reporter.

JSS Barristers is sought out for cases featuring important issues from a monetary, profile, reputational or public policy perspective.

We are pleased that the Legal 500 has now recognized JSS Barristers as a Tier 1 firm in Dispute Resolution: Alberta, identifying four Leading Individuals, one Rising Star, and one Next Generation Partner.

JSS Barristers would like to see further improvement in the rankings. In particular, we believe that the rankings should reflect the quality and excellence that JSS Barristers is known for in specialized areas, beyond the general area of dispute resolution. Many of our partners have been recognized for their outstanding performance in specific areas. As previously stated, we believe that your assessment should consider the individual achievements of each lawyer. We believe that those performances constitute an important pillar to assessing the performance and reputation of our firm. For comparison purposes we have compiled a list highlighting some of the awards received by our firm over the past two years:

• Best Lawyers :2025 edition of Best Law Firms™ - Canada;
• The Globe and Mail and Statista: Best Law Firms for 2025;
• Canadian Lawyer: Top Litigation Boutique Firm for 2024-25;
• Chambers Canada 2025: Our firm ranked in Litigation: General Commercial - Band 1 in Alberta as well as in Dispute Resolution: Class Action (Plaintiff) - Band 3 in Canada. Six of our lawyers at JSS Barristers have been recognized by Chambers Canada 2025;
• Benchmark Litigation: 12 Litigation Stars, 2024;
• Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: Seven Leading Legal Practitioners, 2024;
• Best Lawyers: 13 Best Lawyers in Canada; three Best Lawyers - Ones to Watch, 2024;
• Lexpert: Seven Canadian Legal Experts, 2023 Edition of the Canadian Legal Expert Directory in four practice areas; and
• Benchmark Litigation: Ryan Phillips, 2023 Benchmark Award for Emerging Talent - Alberta Litigator of the Year.

Please see the firm’s awards page at https://jssbarristers.ca/litigation-law-firm/awards/.