Will Moreira, Q.C., FCIArb

Partner

“The priority is always establishing the most efficient and effective practical solution to the client’s problem, whatever its nature.”

Captain of the ship.

With almost 35 years of experience practicing law, Will is a Canadian leader in maritime law. This wealth of knowledge is invaluable for his clients as there are few issues he has yet to encounter. Drawing on his past experience helps Will steer his clients’ present course. He works with ship owners, marine insurers, designers and builders (marine and non-marine), energy firms, ship suppliers and marine lenders.

Representative matters

Will’s clients are looking for the most efficient solutions to their problems and want these problems handled in a timely and cost-efficient manner. He meets these objectives by balancing the merits of the client’s situation with what is their overall best solution. Will’s broad experience in maritime law has included:
  • Acting as counsel in complex domestic and international arbitrations in the marine sector.
  • Acting as counsel in complex non-marine commercial litigation, often involving the construction, banking, insurance and manufacturing industries.
  • Acting for ship owners and/or licence holders in fisheries, pollutions and similar marine regulatory prosecutions.
  • Acting for ship owners, insurers, mortgagees and creditors in arrests, releases, sales, seizures, bails and settlements for ships.

Areas of practice:

Energy and Natural Resources
Marine
Construction Law

BAR ADMISSION(S)

Nova Scotia, 1978

LAW SOCIETY(IES)

Nova Scotia Barristers' Society

EDUCATION

Dalhousie University, LL.B., 1977
Saint Mary’s University, B.B., 1974

QUEEN'S COUNSEL

1995

ACTIVITIES

  • Member, Canadian Bar Association
  • Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
  • Titulary member, Comité Maritime International
  • Member, International Association of Defense Counsel
  • President, Canadian Maritime Law Association, 2005-2007

LANGUAGE(S)

English

LEXPERT RATINGS

Shipping and Maritime Law

MARTINDALE-HUBBELL RATINGS

AV

EXTERNAL RATINGS

  • Best Lawyers: Alternative Dispute Resolution, 2012
  • Best Lawyers: Maritime Law, 2006, 2008-2012

Publications

  • The United Nations Fishing Agreement:  A Canadian Perspective [1999] International Trade Law Quarterly 232
  • Contributing author, Gold et al, Maritime Law (Essentials of Canadian Law, 2003
  • Setting and Enforcing Standards for Maritime Industry (New Directions in Maritime Law, Halifax, 1995)
  • Arrest of Ships in Canada: Past, Present and Future (Federal Court of Canada maritime law seminar, Ottawa, 2000)
  • Ports of Refuge:  The Perspective of P&I, Insurers and Owners (Company of Master Mariners of Canada, Dartmouth, 2001)
  • Judicial Review of Fisheries Access Decisions:  What the Court can Expect in the Post-Marshall World (Federal Court of Canada maritime law seminar, Ottawa, 2002)
  • Love Boat Meets Law and Order: Admiralty Law Issues in the Cruise Industry (IADC, Maui, HI, 2003 and Canadian Bar Association, Saint John, NB, 2005)
  • Civility, Ethics and Professionalism in Civil Advocacy (Canadian Bar Association, Halifax, 2003)
  • Liability for Marine Pollution from Offshore Operations (with Cecily Y. Strickland and David G. Henley – Canadian Petroleum Law Foundation, St. John’s, NL, 2003)
  • Civil Liability for Administrative Malfeasance – Recent Canadian Experience (China Lawyers’ Maritime Forum, Shanghai, 2005)
  • Potential for Performance-Based Regulation in the Canadian Offshore Oil and Gas Industry (with Robert G. Grant, QC and David G. Henley – Canadian Petroleum Law Foundation, Jasper, AB, 2005)
  • Marine Risk Allocations Among Owners, Charterers and Others (Classification Societies): A Canadian Comment (Tulane University Admiralty Law Institute, New Orleans, LA, 2007)
  • Developments in the World of Marine Insurance (Canadian Maritime Law Association, Montreal, 2009)
  • Arrest of Maritime Property – Mechanics and Emergencies (Federal Court of Canada maritime law seminar, Ottawa, 2011)

Suite 900
Purdy's Wharf Tower One
1959 Upper Water Street
Halifax, NS, Canada
B3J 3N2

P 902.420.3346
F 902.420.1417

Email Will

Download V-Card

LEGAL ASSISTANT(S)

Heidi MacLean
Deborah Watson

+ Quick Guide