On December 22, 2020, senior partner, Eric V. Gottardi, Q.C., was appointed as Queen’s Counsel, the highest honour for a lawyer in British Columbia, in recognition of his skills as a barrister and for his significant contributions to the justice system.
Eric has practiced at Peck and Company for his entire legal career, after clerking at the Ontario Court of Appeal. His practice encompasses all aspects of criminal and quasi-criminal cases, including trials, appeals, extraditions, and special prosecutions. He has argued cases at all levels of Court in Canada. As an advocate, he has achieved exceptional results for his clients and inspired monumental changes to Canada’s laws, including the cases of R. v. Jordan, R. v. Nur and R. v. Sekhon at the Supreme Court of Canada. As an expert witness before Parliamentary committees, Eric’s insight has led to positive changes to criminal laws across Canada.
Eric’s contributions to the legal profession also extend to legal education. He was the chair of the CBA National Justice Section and acts as a founding co-chair for the National CBA Annual Criminal Law conference. He is a member of the Planning Committee for the Federation of Law Societies Criminal Law Program, in addition to being a member of faculty. As a member of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, he received the Young Justice Award in 2014. Eric is the Editor of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms Newsletter for Thompson Reuters and often appears as a legal analyst for the CBC and other media outlets, as well as presenting at numerous conferences across Canada.
Peck and Company congratulates Eric on this well-deserved honour and for his continued positive influence on the legal profession in B.C. and Canada.