The Honourable Kathryn Feldman served as a trial and appeal judge in Ontario for 33 years, including more than 25 years on the Court of Appeal for Ontario until her retirement. In addition to hearing civil, criminal and administrative matters on both courts, she sat on the Commercial List throughout her time on the trial bench, where she decided a broad range of commercial, corporate and insolvency cases, also including real property, insurance and arbitration. She brings to her practice as an independent arbitrator and mediator, her extensive legal knowledge, expertise and experience in hearing and deciding disputes of all kinds fairly and efficiently.
Kathryn Feldman served as an Ontario trial and appellate judge for 33 years from December 24, 1990 to December 31, 2023. She was elevated to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in June 1998.
Throughout her term as a trial judge, she served on the Commercial List, presiding over numerous commercial and insolvency matters. She also sat on the Divisional Court hearing administrative law cases, as well as on civil and criminal panels. As a judge on both courts, she wrote hundreds of decisions in all areas of the law including constitutional and Charter of Rights, insolvency, commercial, shareholders' rights, arbitration, class actions, real property, corporate, estates, employment, franchise, child protection, defamation as well as criminal law.
Kathryn Feldman obtained her B.A. from University College and her LL.B. from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, where she received the Dean's Key. Following her call to the Bar, she served as a law clerk to the Court of Appeal for Ontario, then practised civil litigation and administrative law and was a partner at Blake Cassels & Graydon.
As a judge, Kathryn Feldman taught continuing legal education programs for law students, lawyers and judges in many areas of the law including bankruptcy, contracts, arbitration, employment law and appellate advocacy. For ten years from 2013-2023, she Co-Chaired the Law Society's “Civil Year in Review” program for litigation practitioners.
Kathryn Feldman was elected to the Ontario Superior Court Judges' Association for six years and served as Chair of its Equality Committee. For more than ten years, she was the Chair and Co-Chair of the Insurance Committee of the Canadian Superior Court Judges' Association, responsible for overseeing the Canadian Judges' Home Care Insurance Plan. In January 2001 she became the first recipient of the Canadian Superior Court Judges' Association President's Award.
As an alumna of the University of Toronto, Kathryn Feldman served on the selection committee for the prestigious Moss Scholarship for six years, three years as Chair. She was recognized for her contributions with the University of Toronto Arbor Award, and in 2016, by University College with the Alumni of Influence Award.
In 2015, Kathryn Feldman was included as one of 50 women featured in the book, Leading the Way: Canadian Women in the Law, by Julie Soloway and Emma Costante. She served as a director of the Canadian Chapter of the International Women Judges Association for six years. From 2019 to 2023 she was the Chair of the Ontario Civil Rules Committee, and from 2021 to 2023 she served as Chair of the Court of Appeal Bench and Bar Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee.
In June 2023, Kathryn Feldman was awarded the honourary Doctor of Laws by the Law Society of Ontario.
