Eric M. Adams and Grace Alcaide Janicas also joined courts in Alberta and Ontario, respectively
The Federal Court has welcomed François Joyal, senior general counsel at the Department of Justice Canada in Montréal, as a judge to replace Justice Y. Roy.
Joyal spent over 25 years with the department as a litigator to the attorney general of Canada. He was named senior general counsel in 2023.
He is an expert in constitutional law, Indigenous law, administrative law, and public international law. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on cases related these areas of law.
Joyal started his legal career as an articling student with Indigenous law boutique O’Reilly & Associates. He served as an attorney with the firm from 1993 to 1999.
He has trained and mentored people in the Department of Justice Canada and has been an advocacy counsellor with the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute. He sat on the Barreau du Québec’s committee for access to the profession and is fluent in French and English.
Joyal’s predecessor Roy elected to become a supernumerary judge effective October 3, 2024.
Eric M. Adams joins the Court of King's Bench of Alberta
The Court of King's Bench of Alberta welcomed University of Alberta law professor Eric M. Adams as a justice in Edmonton, replacing Justice B.L. Bokenfohr (Edmonton) following Bokenfohr’s resignation as of January 30.
Since 2007, Adams has taught constitutional law, advanced constitutional law, and employment law at the university. He was once vice dean for a three-year term.
He was previously a civil litigator at Toronto’s Paliare Roland LLP. He was called to the Ontario bar in 2002 and the Alberta bar in 2021. He obtained his SJD in 2009 from the University of Toronto.
The Canadian Bar Association’s Alberta branch and the Law Society of Alberta handed Adams the Distinguished Service Award for Service to Legal Scholarship. He also received the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for services to advanced education, and the Canadian Association of Law Teachers Academic Excellence Award.
Grace Alcaide Janicas commences with the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario
Meanwhile, the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario welcomed Grace Alcaide Janicas, the inquest counsel at the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario - Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario in Sudbury, as a judge sitting in Welland.
She replaces Justice E.C. Sheard (Hamilton) following Sheard’s resignation as of June 30, 2025. The vacancy was in Welland because the chief justice transferred Justice S. Latimer (Welland) into Sheard’s vacancy.
Alcaide Janicas has tackled criminal, family, estate, and civil matters. She joined the Sudbury Community Legal Clinic as a staff lawyer and became the Algoma Community Legal Clinic’s legal director. She also served as Advocacy North for Elders’ regional elder law counsel.
She acted as a Crown prosecutor in the northeast region before commencing with the Office of the Chief Coroner & Ontario Forensic Pathology Service as one of a dozen specialized inquest counsel in 2023.
For three years, the Portugal-born lawyer led the criminal law session at the Colloquium training conference. She holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Toronto’s University College and received her LLB, LLM, and Certificate in Elder Law from Osgoode Hall Law School.
