Gerard Kennedy

Expert Overview

Gerard Kennedy joined the University of Alberta Faculty of Law in 2023, following three years as a faculty member of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law.

He researches the role of courts in society, specifically how different actors and institutions within or adjacent to the legal profession uphold the rule of law and facilitate access to justice. He principally does this through analyzing civil justice and procedure and administrative law and procedure, frequently with a comparative lens. He has authored or co-authored more than thirty journal articles on these topics, along with six books, including The Charter of Rights in Litigation: Direction from the Supreme Court of Canada; The Civil Litigation Process, 9th edition; Public Law, 5th edition; Civil Litigation, 2nd edition; and Boundaries of Judicial Review: The Law of Justiciability in Canada, 3rd edition. His work has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada, Federal Court of Appeal, Federal Court, Court of Appeal for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, Alberta Court of King’s Bench, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island.

Kennedy received his Juris Doctor at Queen’s University, where he was the sole recipient of the Dean’s Key in his graduating class. He then clerked at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice before earning a Masters of Law at Harvard Law School as a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow. His doctoral studies at Osgoode Hall Law School were supported by a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship and a SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship. As a doctoral student, he held scholarship-supported visiting positions at NYU School of Law and the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law.

Kennedy’s interests in the role of courts in society, and specifically civil and administrative justice, were largely inspired by his four years as a litigator at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. He has given numerous continuing professional development presentations for a diverse range of organizations.

A member of the bars of Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta, Kennedy also serves on the Alberta Judicial Council, the Federal Courts Rules Committee, and the (advisory) boards of Advocates for the Rule of Law, the Centre for Constitutional Studies, and the Edmonton Bar Association.