Graeme leads BLG’s White Collar Criminal Defence and Corporate Investigations and International Trade and Investment focus groups. He is a very experienced trial and appellate advocate in the areas of white collar criminal defence, international trade and investment law, and public law.
Graeme is widely recognized as one of Canada's leading white collar criminal defence practitioners. He has been counsel in several of the most notable white collar and regulatory investigations and prosecutions in recent Canadian history, defending corporations and individuals in landmark cases involving allegations of bribery and corruption, tax evasion, anti-money laundering and securities law violations. In addition, Graeme is frequently retained by companies to conduct internal investigations and instructed in related civil litigation.
Graeme additionally specializes in international trade law, where his practice encompasses litigation, investigations, transactional advice and compliance advice in regard to economic sanctions, export controls, customs laws, trade remedies, and anti-corruption laws. Graeme regularly acts for Canadian and multinational companies in litigation before the Federal Court and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal; in audits, inspections and administrative proceedings conducted by the Canada Border Services Agency; and with respect to trade law issues implicated in domestic and cross-border transactions.
Graeme also has substantial and varied public law experience. He represents and advises public sector organizations, professional regulatory bodies and private sector clients on a range of administrative and constitutional law issues, and has appeared before numerous administrative tribunals and on judicial reviews before the provincial superior courts and the Federal Court. His notable cases include precedent-setting matters concerning freedom of the press, the open court principle, the application of the Charter to regulatory investigations, and the scope and limits of judicial oversight over administrative bodies.
Graeme taught Trial Advocacy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law for several years. He also previously taught Evidence at Osgoode Hall Law School as an adjunct professor. In addition, Graeme has testified as an expert witness on criminal and constitutional law issues before the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on multiple occasions.
