Joseph J. Arvay, OC, OBC, QC

Joseph J. Arvay, OC, OBC, QC held law degrees from the University of Western Ontario Law School and Harvard Law School and was called to the Bars of both British Columbia and the Yukon. He was a brilliant litigator and practiced with an emphasis on public law and in particular constitutional, aboriginal and administrative law matters. Mr. Arvay was counsel on a number of landmark cases in the Supreme Court of Canada - a court he appeared in dozens of times.

Mr. Arvay was also listed as “Most Frequently Recommended” in the area of Public Law Litigation in both Vancouver and Victoria in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. As well he was “Consistently Recommended” in the areas of Aboriginal Law, Class Action Litigation and Corporate/Commercial Litigation. Mr. Arvay was named as one of the top 100 Best lawyers in Canada in a publication of the same name for the last several years and was named Vancouver Lawyer of the Year in Public Law and Administrative Law for 2013, 2016, and 2021.

Mr Arvay was the recipient of many awards and honours including most recently the Advocate Society’s Justice Award 2015. In 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 he was named by Canadian Lawyer Magazine as one of the top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada.

Mr. Arvay was a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

In 2012, Mr. Arvay was the University of Toronto’s Asper Centre’s inaugural Constitutional Litigator in Residence and the York University’s Osgoode Hall McMurtry visiting clinical fellow.

Mr. Arvay was elected Bencher for Vancouver for the two year term commencing in January 2014.

In 2016, Mr. Arvay was awarded with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, and in 2018 was awarded the same honour by the University of Victoria. In 2017, he became an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s most prestigious civilian honours, and in 2018, was awarded the Order of British Columbia, the highest form of recognition the Province can extend to its citizens.