Paul Seaman, a proud citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation and active member of the Saskatchewan Métis community, has been appointed national leader of Gowling WLG's Indigenous Law Group.
A partner in Gowling WLG’s Indigenous and Environmental Law groups, and working out of the firm’s Toronto and Vancouver offices, Seaman has a leading national practice and acts on complex constitutional, regulatory, and transactional matters. His Indigenous law practice focuses on projects and transactions where the Crown’s duty to consult Indigenous Peoples is engaged. This includes acting for clients in the contexts of formal regulatory processes, and government-to-government and commercial negotiations involving Indigenous communities, industry and government.
“Congratulations to Paul Seaman on being appointed as leader of Indigenous law at Gowling WLG. Paul has worked with us at Sema:th for a few years now. His insight and knowledge of historic and current legal matters related to Indigenous peoples’ rights has been a welcome addition to our team,” notes Lemxyaltexw, Chief Dalton Silver, Sema:th (Sumas) First Nation.
Seaman has represented Indigenous clients in the courtroom, boardroom, and around the negotiation table across Canada on several large scale and high-profile resource development projects, and in related litigation before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. The subject matter of those mandates has included mining, oil & gas pipelines, LNG, forestry, and electricity generation and transmission projects.
In its 2019 and 2020 editions, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory recognized Seaman as a top Indigenous law lawyer. Legal 500 Canada 2021 has also recently recognized him as a top recommended lawyer for Indigenous law.
Seaman’s appointment as national leader of the firm’s Indigenous Law Group is effective January 1, 2021, for a three-year term.
Gowling WLG's Indigenous Law Group has served as counsel to Canada's First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples for more than half a century. In that time, the firm has been instrumental in precedent-setting resource development projects, self-government agreements and Supreme Court cases. Learn more