Andromache Karakatsanis

Andromache Karakatsanis is a Canadian jurist. She was nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada by Stephen Harper in October 2011. She is the first Greek-Canadian judge on the Court [1].

Early life

Justice Karakatsanis was born in Canada to Greek parents, and raised with an emphasis on her Greek heritage.^[1] She grew up near the Don Mills Rd. and Lawrence Ave. area of Toronto, where her parents owned a restaurant called Top of the Mall which was where Karakatsanis got her start as a waitress serving souvlaki.^[2]

She attended Victoria College at the University of Toronto, graduating with a B.A. in English literature in 1977.^[3] She then received her legal training at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School, receiving her LL.B. in 1980. She was called to the Ontario bar in 1982.^[4]

Career

After her call to the bar, Karakatsanis clerked for the judges of the Ontario Court of Appeal from 1982-1983, after which she entered private practice. In 1987, Karakatsanis was appointed to the Liquor Licensing Board of Ontario as Vice-Chair, becoming Chair and CEO the following year. She held that position until her 1995 appointment as Assistant Deputy Attorney General and Secretary of the Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat.^[4][5] Karakatsanis was named Deputy Attorney General for the province of Ontario in 1997, and she became Secretary of the Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council of the Government of Ontario in 2000.^[4]

Justice Karakatsanis's judicial career began when she was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in December 2002, where she developed an expertise in administrative law. She was subsequently elevated to the Ontario Court of Appeal on March 26, 2010, where she served for 19 months prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court.^[5]

Personal life

Karakatsanis is fluent in English, French and Greek. She is married to former lawyer Tom Karvanis, who is afflicted with multiple sclerosis and confined to a wheelchair, and has two children: Paul Karvanis, who is a lawyer at Stikeman Elliott, and Rhea Karvanis, a student at the University of Toronto law school.^[5][2][6]

References

External links

• Supreme Court of Canada biography
• Court of Appeal biography

v t e Current Canadian Federal Judges Supreme Court Beverley McLachlin, Louis LeBel, Marie Deschamps, Morris Fish, Rosalie Abella, Marshall Rothstein, Thomas Cromwell, Michael Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis Court of Appeal Pierre Blais, Gilles Létourneau (S), Marc Noël, Marc Nadon (S), John Maxwell Evans, Karen Sharlow, J.D. Denis Pelletier, Johanne Trudel, Carolyn Layden-Stevenson, Eleanor Dawson, David Stratas, Robert Mainville, Johanne Gauthier Federal Court Paul S. Crampton , Yvon Pinard (S), Sandra J. Simpson, Danièle Tremblay-Lamer (S), Douglas R. Campbell (S), Allan Lutfy (S), François Lemieux (S), John A. O'Keefe, Elizabeth Heneghan, Dolores Hansen, Edmond Blanchard, Michael A. Kelen, Michel Beaudry, Luc Martineau, Simon Noël, Judith A. Snider, James Russell, James O'Reilly, Sean J. Harrington, Richard Mosley, Michel M.J. Shore, Michael L. Phelan, Anne L. Mactavish, Yves de Montigny, Roger T. Hughes, Robert L. Barnes, Leonard S. Mandamin, Russel Zinn, David Near, Richard Boivin, Marie-Josée Bédard, André F.J. Scott, Donald J. Rennie, Mary J.L. Gleason Tax Court Gerald J. Rip, Eugene Rossiter, Theodore E. Margeson (S), Pierre Archambault, Cameron Hugh McArthur (S), Lucie Lamarre, Alain Tardif, Eric A. Bowie (S), Joe E. Hershfield, Diane Campbell, Campbell J. Miller, François M. Angers, Leslie M. Little, Brent Paris, Judith Woods, Georgette Anne Sheridan, Paul Bédard, Réal Favreau, Wyman W. Webb, Gaston Jorré, Patrick J. Boyle, Valerie Miller, Robert Hogan, Steven K. D'Arcy, Frank J. Pizzitelli, Johanne D'Auray