The Honourable Marina Paperny K.C., Senior Counsel for BLG, provides strategic insights to lawyers and clients.
Since her retirement from the Court of Appeal of Alberta in 2023, Ms. Paperny has worked on disputes resolution in complex corporate commercial litigation. She provides strategic advice on challenging, often precedent setting cases in Canada. Ms. Paperny also conducts trial and appeal preparation and advocacy advice, including conducting mock trials and appeals.
Ms. Paperny retired from the Courts of Appeal of Alberta and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in 2023 after 23 years. During that time, she also served as a Justice on the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada. Prior to her appointment to the Courts of Appeal, she served as a trial judge on the Court of King’s Bench for five years. As a jurist, Ms. Paperny presided over thousands of proceedings and has authored over 1,500 decisions. She has written precedent setting cases in many areas of the law including corporate-commercial, insolvency, administrative, energy, constitutional, family and criminal.
As a member of the court, Ms. Paperny assumed many leadership roles, chairing multiple court committees including the Court’s Budget committee, its Strategic Planning Committee, the Calgary Court of Appeal Building Committee and the Court of Appeal Education Committee. She served as the Court of Appeal list manager in Calgary for a decade.
Prior to her career as a jurist, Ms. Paperny was a litigation partner at Howard Mackie, which is now BLG in Calgary. Later, she served as general counsel and President of a private investment firm focusing on real estate development and medical imaging.
Throughout her professional career both as a lawyer and justice, Ms. Paperny has demonstrated her commitment to and passion for the law and to the community it serves. She was a founding member of Pro Bono Law Alberta, a member of the Alberta Self-Represented Litigants Advisory Committee, on the Family Justice Advisory Committee and on the editorial board of the Annual Insolvency Review. She has also been a frequent lecturer for national and international education institutions and organizations, including, among others, the Canadian Bar Association and the National Judicial Institute.
Ms. Paperny was appointed to the Judicial Independence and Appointments Committee of the Canadian Judicial Counsel along with two other puisne judges and seven Chief and Associate Chief Justices who were charged with updating the Ethical Principles for Judges. The new document provides guidance for judges across the country navigating the challenging ethical issues as they emerge in the 21st century. The revised Ethical Principles has been adopted by the Canadian Judicial Council and is now the preeminent source of advice on the subject for Canadian Judges. Additionally, Ms. Paperny has also served as an executive and board member for the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges where she spearheaded a Canada-wide project to promote the retention of women and other minorities in the legal profession. She was also instrumental in the settlement of Afghan women judges who fled Afghanistan to Canada.
Ms. Paperny is a leader, mentor and lifelong volunteer. She is a native Calgarian who is enthusiastic about the local community and giving back. She engages in numerous local charitable and volunteer initiatives.