August 28, 2025

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Alberta has announced in a letter to the profession that 2025-26 applications for King's Counsel (KC) appointments will open on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 8:30 a.m. MST. Applications must be submitted no later than Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. MST.

KC appointments will be awarded to lawyers who are found to have made a significant contribution to the legal profession or public life in the province. This work is done under the authority of the King’s Counsel Act and individuals are evaluated based on detailed criteria. To be eligible, lawyers must have been called to the bar (with active practising status) for at least 10 years, with a minimum of five years practising in Alberta.

How to Apply

The 2025 KC appointment application form will be available on the Alberta Justice website beginning on Sept. 2. Paper-based submissions and/or nominations on another lawyer's behalf will not be accepted. If an individual thinks a particular lawyer is deserving of a KC appointment, the individual may suggest to the lawyer that they submit an application and/or offer to provide a reference for that lawyer.

All applications must include the following documentation:

• The completed web form (available Sept. 2);
• The applicant's current resumé (do not include a cover letter);
• Consent to disclosure of personal information; and
• Three individually attached letters of reference, to a maximum of two pages per letter. In order to comply with the Access to Information Act and Protection of Privacy Act, each letter of reference must state as follows:

"This letter may be disclosed to Alberta Justice, the Law Society of Alberta, the King’s Counsel Screening Committee, and as otherwise required for use in the King’s Counsel selection process."

Review Process

All completed application packages will be reviewed by the King's Counsel Screening Committee. Note that the Screening Committee will not accept or consider applications that do not comply with the parameters set out in the web application form, such as document size (each document maximum two pages), formatting (margins no narrower than one inch) and font (no smaller than 12-point).

To review more information on King's Counsel appointments, please visit the King's Counsel webpage. If you have questions about the application process, please contact the government at KC-Mail@gov.ab.ca.

Starting Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, applications will be accepted until noon MST on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025 to fill one Bencher vacancy. Specific details on how to submit your application will also be released on Sept. 11. This position will become effective at the Feb. 26, 2026 Bencher meeting and will fill the vacancy created by the end of President Stacy Petriuk, KC’s, term. 

The Board follows Rule 17 of the Rules of the Law Society of Alberta, which allows the Board to fill a vacancy either by appointing from the applications received or by selecting from the results of the November 2023 Bencher election. In all instances, the Board considers both options when determining how they will fill the vacancy. Please note that candidates from the previous election who would like to be considered for the Bencher vacancy must express their interest by completing the online application. 

How to Prepare

Review and update your information in the Lawyer Portal.

Prepare a CV that meets the following requirements. Please do provide a cover letter. CVs that do not meet these requirements will not be reviewed: 

• Maximum two pages 
• Minimum size 12 font 
• Minimum 1.1 line spacing 
• PDF or Word (Docx) format 

Background Information

All active members of the Law Society in good standing may apply to fill a Bencher vacancy. The Bencher competencies are available on the Law Society website.

The key responsibilities are governance (participating in Board and committee meetings) and adjudication (participating in regulatory hearings).

Benchers spend approximately 500 volunteer hours on Law Society work each year. There are four regularly scheduled in-person Board meetings per year in Calgary, an annual virtual Budget Review meeting in November, plus an annual in-person three-day strategic retreat in June. Benchers typically sit on several committees or task forces in any given year. Each committee holds virtual meetings five times per year, on average. Virtual ad hoc Board meetings may be added as needed.

Adjudicator training includes online modules and a mandatory in-person session held in March annually. In-person Bencher governance and adjudication education sessions are held as required.

The new Bencher will serve for a one-year term until February 2027, unless they run and are elected in the November 2026 Bencher election, in which case they would begin a new three-year term in February 2027.

Visit our website for more information on the role of Benchers, the Board and Committees, and the Strategic Plan.

If you have questions, please contact Governance.

Court of Appeal of Alberta Announcement

The Honourable Jack Watson to be Sworn Out as Justice of the Court of Appeal of Alberta

The Honourable Jack Watson will be sworn out as a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Alberta on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. in Courtroom 514 at the Edmonton Law Courts, 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, Alberta.

View the full announcement.

Court of King's Bench Announcement

Repeal of Notices to Profession and Public – Family Law

Over the past two years, a number of changes have been made to the Court’s family law processes, with more to be made over the coming year. As a result, several Notices to Profession and Public are no longer required and are repealed effective immediately.

View the announcement.

Alberta Court of Justice Announcement

Change to Sitting Days in Fox Creek

The Honourable James A. Hunter, Chief Justice, has authorized a change to the Alberta Court Calendar as required for Fox Creek effective Nov. 1, 2025.

View the full announcement.

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