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Justice David Stratas attended elementary and high school in Scarborough, Ontario. In 1984, he obtained his LL.B. from Queen's University. From 1984-1986, he attended Balliol College, Oxford University, obtaining his B.C.L., with first class standing. Then he served as a law clerk to the Honourable Justice Bertha Wilson, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Canada.
Justice Stratas practised law in Toronto from 1988-2009, primarily in the areas of administrative and constitutional law. During that time, he acted as counsel in many high profile matters in all courts, including 12 appeals in the Supreme Court of Canada.
While practising law, Justice Stratas earned a reputation as one of the best counsel in Canada. The Chambers Global Guide described him as a "tremendously hard worker," "meticulously prepared" and "a creative force," with "ideas you'd never think of." The annual Lexpert Survey consistently rated him as "repeatedly recommended" by other counsel. Up until his appointment to the judiciary, he appeared in every edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada.
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In 2008, Justice Stratas was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of a select number of Canadian counsel to receive that honour. In that same year, the federal Minister of Justice appointed him to the roster of Special Advocates who, upon court appointment, act independently of government to protect the interests of persons facing allegations in closed national security proceedings.
In 2009, Justice Stratas was appointed directly to the Federal Court of Appeal. That Court, based in Ottawa, is the world's most itinerant appellate court, holding hearings in eighteen major Canadian cities. It reviews decisions of the Federal Court, the Tax Court of Canada and over 2,500 federal boards, tribunals and other decision-makers. It issues judgments in constitutional, administrative and regulatory law, intellectual property law, tax law, immigration law, national security law, aboriginal law, and human rights law, to name a few.
Since his appointment, he has served as a member of the Rules Committee for the Federal Courts. In 2011-2012 he chaired a subcommittee conducting a once-a-decade global review of the
Federal Courts Rules. The Rules Committee unanimously accepted the 29 recommendations of that subcommittee, many of which offer never-before-tried solutions to problems of self-represented litigants and access to justice. Justice Stratas is now the chair of the subcommittee charged with implementing the recommendations.
In 2012, Justice Stratas was appointed to the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada.
From 1994 to the present, Justice Stratas has been a sessional lecturer at Queen's University law school, winning a total of ten teaching awards. He has received other awards for his contributions to mentoring and the administrative law and regulatory community. In 2012 he received an honourary doctorate of laws from Queen's University. Ever keen to educate, he has spoken at over 120 conferences and has authored approximately 140 articles, papers and commentaries, primarily in the areas of constitutional law, administrative law, regulatory law, and legal writing.
