The Honourable Joseph R. Nuss, C.M., Q.C., Ad. E., FCIArb, is a former Justice of the Court of Appeal of Quebec. He joined Woods LLP, as Senior Counsel, in December 2009, after his retirement from the Court, and concentrates his practice in the fields of domestic and international arbitration and mediation.

Prior to his appointment as a judge, he was a lawyer, specializing in litigation, who appeared as counsel, in various areas of the law, before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court, all the Courts of Quebec as well as before administrative tribunals. He, in addition, was counsel before a number of Federal Commissions of Inquiry. As a judge, he also acted as mediator within the framework of the system of mediation established in the Court of Appeal of Quebec. He is a lecturer on arbitration and mediation at national and international conferences.

• 1960 INSTITUT UNIVERSITAIRE D’ÉTUDES EUROPÉENNES DE TURIN, ITALY – On scholarship, Certificate of Higher European Studies
• 1959 ADMITTED TO THE BAR OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC
• 1958 McGILL UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF LAW, Bachelor of Civil Law
• 1955 McGILL UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE, Bachelor of Arts

• Quebec Bar Association since 1959;
• Canadian Bar Association since 1961;
• Queen’s Counsel since 1976;
• Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1986;
• London Court of International Arbitration since 2010;
• International Bar Association since 2010;
• Canadian Chamber of Commerce (ICC Canada) Arbitration Committee since 2011;
• Panel of arbitrators of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) since September 2012;
• Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR since October 2013;
• Recipient of the distinction “Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” (Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) in 2002;
• Honoured by the Lord Reading Law Society (Montreal) in September 2009 and presented with a citation which concludes:
“In recognition of his lifelong dedication to the pursuit of Justice at the Bar and on the Bench”
• Awarded the distinction Advocatus Emeritus (Ad. E.) by the Barreau du Québec in June 2013;
• Accredited mediator in civil, commercial and labor mediation by the Barreau du Québec in June 2016;
• Appointed Commissaire à l’éthique et à la déontologie des membres du conseil d’administration de la Fondation du Barreau du Québec in June 2018;
• Appointed a Member of the Order of Canada June 27, 2019;
• Appointed Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) in July 2019;
• Martindale Hubbell gives him the highest rating of AV®. The website of Martindale Hubbell.com indicates in reference to him “AV® PreeminentTM” and the highest Peer Rating (5);
• Recognized by publication Best Lawyers in Canada as “Lawyer of the Year” for Alternative Dispute Resolution – Montréal, 2021

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