Managing Partner
Ryan Phillips
Ryan Phillips is the Managing Partner at JSS Barristers. He is an experienced advocate in commercial litigation and administrative law, including: contractual interpretation and concurrent negligence claims, arbitration, construction, professional negligence, and judicial reviews. He has acted in many high stakes commercial and public law disputes throughout his career, bringing a pragmatic approach to complex problems.
In 2023, Ryan was named the Emerging Talent Alberta Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Litigation.
Civil Litigation Career
Ryan has considerable experience in commercial arbitrations and a wide range of litigation at all levels of courts in Alberta, the Federal Court, the superior courts of British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Ryan has been counsel for a variety of individuals, public and private companies, governments, and administrative bodies, including the Information and Privacy Commissioner in judicial reviews.
Education
Ryan graduated from law school at the University of Saskatchewan, achieving a Dean’s List standing for academic excellence. In law school, he competed in the Gale Cup criminal-constitutional moot, and he studied abroad for a semester at Bond University on the Gold Coast of Australia. He was called to the British Columbia bar in 2012 before he moved to Calgary and joined JSS Barristers in 2014.
Awards and Recognitions
In 2023, Ryan was named Emerging Talent Alberta Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Litigation. In 2022, Ryan was recognized for his Corporate and Commercial Litigation Practice by Best Lawyers. Beginning in 2020, he was named Future Star, every year, and included in Benchmark Litigation’s Top 40 & Under Litigator List. In 2024, he was recognized as a Litigation Star.
Experience
Some of Ryan’s notable reported decisions include:
Auer v Auer, 2024 SCC 36
Clearview AI Inc v Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2025 ABKB 287
0678786 BC Ltd v Bennett Jones LLP, 2020 ABQB 115, 2021 ABCA 62 (leave to SCC denied), 2021 ABCA 197, 2022 ABQB 599
Fitter International Inc v British Columbia, 2021 ABCA 54 (leave to SCC denied)
Brown-Forman Corporation v Charton-Hobbs Inc., 2024 ABKB 261
Parker v Canada (Attorney General), 2021 FC 496, 2022 FC 1244
Just Freehold Energy Corp. v Doef's Greenhouses Ltd. et al, 2023 ABKB 137
Calgary (Police Service) v Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2019 ABQB 109
Alberta Health Services v Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, 2018 ABQB 467
Carter v Alberta (Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General), 2019 ABQB 491
Mohamed v College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, 2019 ABQB 657
Bechir v Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, 2017 ABQB 214, 2017 ABQB 667
Rudichuk v Genesis Land Development Corp., 2017 ABQB 119, 2019 ABQB 132, 2020 ABCA 42
Publications
"Release the Goods: Court Finds Liquor Agent Acted in Bad Faith by Withholding Inventory From Supplier After Termination"
JSS Barristers.ca, September 26, 2024
Co-Author (with David J. Marshall & Emily Amirkhani)
"Interpretation of the "Resulting Damage" Exception to Coverage Exclusions"
JSSBarristers.ca, August 9, 2022
"Protecting Privacy in the Era of AI"
National Magazine, Canadian Bar Association, March 16, 2021
Co-Author (with Matthew Scott)
"Contractual Interpretations and the 'Surrounding Circumstances' - Six Years After Sattva"
JSSBarristers.ca, June 9, 2020
Co-Author (with Kaila Eadie)
"Is My Business Covered for Insurance Losses Caused by COVID-19?"
JSSBarristers.ca, April 17, 2020
Co-Author (with Maureen McCartney-Cameron)
"Forum Shopping for Limitation Deadlines"
Statute of Limitations in International Commercial Claims, by David Franklin (Toronto, Ontario: Thomson Reuters, 2016), pp. 839-846
Co-Author (with Bryan Duguid QC, FCIArb)
"Third Party Claims in Construction Disputes"
CBA Construction Law Section, October 2019
Co-Author (with Geoff Boddy and Andrea MacLean)
Media Coverage
Interviewee
"Alberta Health Services sues Calgary mayoral candidate for $1.3M over threats to health-care workers", Global News Calgary (https://globalnews.ca/video/rd/5f0d7008-cbee-11eb-bf7e-0242ac110007/?jwsource=cl), June 12, 2021.
Speaking Engagements
Speaker
"Mastering Examination Techniques: Engaging with Direct and Cross-Examinations", The Canadian Bar Association, Skilled Lawyer Series, April 2, 2025
Speaker
"The Standard of Review of Regulations", The Canadian Bar Association, Calgary, Administrative Law Sub-Section, February 13, 2025
The Alberta Court of King’s Bench issued judgment against a liquor agent for breach of the duty of good faith contractual performance, relating to obligations arising out of an unwritten contract upon termination of its engagement with a liquor supplier. This decision will have important impacts on the liquor distribution industry in Alberta and British Columbia.
Read MoreThe “Resulting Damage” exception was the focus of the leading insurance coverage decision in Canada, Ledcor Construction Ltd v Northbridge Indemnity Insurance Co, 2016 SCC 37. What is the exception and how is it interpreted by Courts?
Read MoreCanadians will have a right to explanation and more transparency when subjected to automated decisions. But what does that really mean?
Read MoreIn the years since Sattva Capital Corp. v Creston Moly Corp. (2014), Canadian Courts have embraced the “modern” approach to contractual interpretation which requires a consideration of surrounding circumstances. That said, it is important not to stray too far from the words of the contract themselves.
Read MoreRyan Phillips and Maureen McCartney-Cameron tell you what to look for in your insurance coverage.
Read More
