Mr. Leon Paroian

Leon Paroian was called to the Ontario Bar in 1963 after graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1961 and articling with Archie Gignac in Windsor. His career was marked by several high-profile “giant killer” cases against government authorities and large corporations. Early in his career, Paroian served as Assistant Crown Attorney from 1963-1967, which he credits as crucial training for developing his cross-examination skills.

Paroian became known for major expropriation cases, including representing the Marentette Brothers in the E.C. Row Expressway expropriation (1969), the Powell Siding railway case against Canadian Pacific Railway (1970s), and the Ontario Hydro transmission line case that resulted in power lines being relocated to Highway 401 (1970s). His most famous case was Walker v. City of Chatham (1980), where he successfully defended a farmer’s right to build a 78-foot silo at the end of Chatham airport’s runway, challenging municipal zoning authority over federal aviation matters.

The most emotionally challenging case of his career was representing the family of Bernard Bastien in a coroner’s inquest following Bastien’s death in a police shooting in 1988. This case forced Paroian to go against police for the first time in his career, requiring extensive forensic work including the creation of anatomical models to demonstrate bullet trajectories. The case highlighted philosophical differences between militaristic and community-based approaches to police tactical operations.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.