William Smart, K.C. is a senior litigator with 40 years of experience primarily in the areas of criminal, administrative, and regulatory law. This includes representing clients under investigation or charged pursuant to a wide range of federal and provincial legislation, including the Income Tax Act, Canada Labour Code, Fisheries Act, Customs Act, Excise Act, Workers Compensation Act, Mines Act, Securities Act, Police Act, Gaming Enforcement Act, and Elections Act. He has also represented lawyers, teachers, and health care professionals before their respective regulatory bodies.
William has appeared for both the defence and the Crown at all levels of court in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, as well as before the Supreme Court of Canada. He is peer‑rated by Martindale‑Hubbell with its highest level of professional excellence, Pre‑eminent Counsel (AV).
He was appointed King’s Counsel in 1996 and was the 2001 Milvain Visiting Chair in Advocacy at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law. William was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2002 and a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers in 2005.
William has been a regular contributor to continuing legal education programs for more than 35 years, including as a faculty member of the Federation of Law Societies National Criminal Law Program since 1984. He has been co‑chair of the McEachern Advanced Trial Advocacy Course at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law since 2012. William was a member of Canada’s 1972 Olympic Track and Field team.
