It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of our partner, friend, colleague and mentor, John Kingman Phillips, K.C. John died on August 1, 2026, surrounded by family and friends. Our thoughts are with his wife Julia, sons Otto and Karl, and the rest of John’s family.

John was a highly skilled and unflappable barrister and was consistently recognized as one of the top trial lawyers in the country. He was sought out by a diverse array of clients nationwide. John refused to be bored. His main criterion for selecting clients and cases was that they were interesting, which led him to be involved in all manner of cutting-edge, challenging, and often unconventional lawsuits. He frequently took on, and won, “unwinnable” cases against formidable institutional adversaries. He was a firm believer that justice should not be a luxury and structured his practice around his commitment to access to justice.

John was born and educated in Saskatchewan before completing his law degree at Osgoode Hall and his M.A. (Philosophy of Science) from the University of Guelph. He was called to the bar in Alberta in 1990 and Ontario in 2002. Despite practicing law for most of his career in downtown Toronto, he maintained the folksy charm of a prairie lawyer.

John’s legal career was the stuff of legends – he was counsel in many precedent-setting and high-profile cases in wide-ranging areas of the law. He was counsel in R. v. Stinchcombe, a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that first imposed disclosure obligations on the Crown in criminal cases; Merrifield v. RCMP, a case that addressed harassment by the RCMP of one of its own members leading the unionization of the force; Currie v. McDonald’s Restaurants, a leading case on notice requirements in class actions; and Fontaine v. Canada, where he acted as counsel to then National Chief Phil Fontaine and the Assembly of First Nations in the multi- jurisdictional class action and settlement on behalf of Indian Residential Schools survivors. He has also represented child soldier Omar Khadr, which resulted in Omar being compensated following his detention and torture in Guantanamo Bay, and numerous intelligence officers who sued their employer, CSIS, for discrimination and harassment. John acted as class counsel in the Gottfriedson class action at the Federal Court on behalf of the Day Scholar Survivor and Descendant Classes and the Band Class for collective damages suffered as a result of the Indian Residential Schools. This action resulted in two of the largest class action settlements in Canadian history and the creation of an unprecedented Indigenous-led trust model that provides each First Nation Band with resources to develop their own linguistic, cultural, heritage, and wellness programs to address the harmful legacy that the Indian Residential Schools have left on their communities. He spent the past two years deeply involved in an Aboriginal title claim on behalf of the Gitanyow.

John was a caring and patient boss, a generous mentor, and an inspiration as a lawyer. We will miss him dearly.

Funeral details and arrangements can be found here: https://morleybedford.wordpress.com/2026/08/06/john-kingman-phillips-k-c/