May 24, 2019
Alumnus appointed to Court of Queen's Bench
Nicholas Devlin, LLB'96, Senior General Counsel at the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Calgary, as been appointed a Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta and a Judge ex officio of the Court of Appeal of Alberta. Mr. Justice Devlin replaces Madam Justice J. Antonio (Calgary), who was elevated to the Court of Appeal on December 12, 2018.
Justice Devlin was born and raised in Calgary. From 2001 till his appointment, he served as counsel with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada; he was a member of the Alberta, Nunavut and Ontario bars. Justice Devlin spent a decade as the Appeals Coordinator for the federal Crown in Ontario before returning to Alberta as Senior General Counsel. His practice focused on complex criminal and constitutional trials and appeals and spanned the northern reaches of Baffin Island to the Supreme Court of Canada, where he regularly appeared on behalf of the Crown.
A proud native Calgarian, Justice Devlin attended the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law, graduating as its gold medalist in 1996. He was also the first student to be admitted to the Order of the University of Calgary. He completed his LL.M. at the University of Toronto before serving as law clerk to the Honourable Justice Jack Major of the Supreme Court of Canada. He began his practice in the litigation department of Torys LLP, before spending a year at the Middle Temple in London as a Fox Scholar.
A passionate teacher, Justice Devlin has taught trial advocacy techniques across Canada and contributed to continuing legal education programs on a wide range of topics. He also served as an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School from 2013 to 2017.
When not practising law, Justice Devlin can be found hiking, photographing or restoring old cedar canvas canoes.