UMD ADVISORY COUNCIL

Chris Paliare 

Chris Paliare’s family originally moved to Canada around 1915 from the village of Tryse, in Aegean Macedonia, in present-day Greece. Born and raised in Toronto, Paliare earned his LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1970, and his LL.M. from University of Texas at Austin in 1971. In 1973, he was called to the Bar of the Province of Ontario with Honors, and has been a member in good standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada ever since.

As a founding partner of Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP, Paliare is a pioneer in boutique litigation. His unique combination of sophisticated legal skills, strategic instincts, and creativity has earned him recognition as one of the top litigators in Canada. Prior to Paliare Roland Barristers, he was a partner at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP and Cameron Brewin & Scott.

Paliare’s practice covers all aspects of counsel work, including but not limited to appeals, complex corporate and commercial litigation, public law, class actions, Charter of Rights and constitutional litigation, defamation, employment law, pension litigation, and white-collar crime. He has appeared before numerous administrative tribunals as well as in every level of trial and appellate court in the Province of Ontario, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Acting on behalf of professionals who have come into conflict with their regulatory agencies, Paliare regularly appears before the Divisional Court, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and before disciplinary bodies. He is a frequent lecturer and speaker to professional industry groups on the impact of litigation trends and employment and labor issues.

Among Paliare’s numerous accolades are being listed in The Best Lawyers in Canada in Public and Administrative Law, Class Actions, Corporate Commercial Litigation and Labor and Employment Law for the last 10 years and named one of the 50th most influential people in Toronto in the December 2012 Issue of Toronto Life Magazine. He received the Osgoode Hall Law School Alumni Association Gold Key Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2008, and the prestigious Law Society Medal in 2004. Paliare was made a Member of the Order of Ontario in 2011. Paliare is also a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, American College of Trial Lawyers and International Society of Barristers.

No matter how far Chris went in his career, he never forgot his heritage. His commitment to Macedonia and Macedonian causes stems from the rich heritage that he enjoyed as a child from both sides of his family. Growing up living with his paternal Baba and Dedo certainly spawned in him a love of all things Macedonian.

Paliare has been active in the Canadian-Macedonian community all his life. As one of the founders of the Canadian Macedonian Place, he has continuously served as a Board Member since 1979, served as its President from 1992-1999, and currently Vice-President. He is a founder of the Macedonian Canadian Lawyer’s Association, and a Macedonian Companions member of the United Macedonian Diaspora. Since 1991, Paliare has contributed thousands of hours of pro bono work – including international cases involving the human rights of Macedonians, principally in Greece. He has also actively represented Macedonians at the OSCE Conference on the Human Dimension, having attended conferences in Moscow in 1991, Helsinki in 1993, and Warsaw in 1996.

Paliare is married to Eva Marszewski and has two beautiful daughters, Zoë and Julia, who are all also committed to social justice for Macedonians.

Paliare is an outstanding individual who has not only helped improve Toronto and society-at-large through his pioneering work in the legal field as well as his philanthropy and tireless community service, but he has given so much to the Macedonian community and has helped raise the profile for all Macedonians globally. Paliare has been an inspiration for the next generation of Macedonians.

UNITED, WE CAN!