Trial Counsel (Retired)
For over 40 years, Kris was a trial lawyer in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. He initially commenced his career in criminal defence and family law, then transitioned to construction law and then to personal injury and insurance matters. Since 1990, Kris was certified as a Specialist by the Law Society.
Kris built his practice on referrals from other lawyers and former clients. He has appeared in all trial courts in Ontario, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Several of his cases have been landmark, some changing the law in the Province and Canada. He has tried and prosecuted over 300 cases and legal matters. He has appeared before many Tribunals and handled over 20 major inquests, several involving mining fatalities. Kris represented claimants in the long running Nakina fire inquest where, tragically, the lives of four junior rangers were lost in an MNR deliberately set prescribed forest burn.
A former pilot, Kris was counsel to the victims group in the challenging Dryden Air Inquiry, following the crash of an Air Ontario jet that resulted in several deaths and injuries. This federal inquiry lasted over two years with televised hearings addressing air safety in Canada. Recommendations made impacted air safety both nationally, and internationally.