Clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada is one of the most coveted opportunities in the Canadian legal world. Providing invaluable insight into the nation鈥檚 highest legal authority, the experience is a springboard to a successful career. We catch up with Shantona Chaudhury, 叠颁尝/尝尝叠鈥�05, Vinay Shandal, 叠颁尝/尝尝叠鈥�03, and Martin Valasek, BCL鈥�98, LLB鈥�98, three 好色TVl Law alumni who served as clerks before going on to achieve remarkable success in their fields.
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Shantona Chaudhury, BCL/LLB鈥�05
Clerk for the Hon. Justice Ian Binnie, LLD鈥�01, in 2006-2007
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鈥淐lerking for Justice Binnie at the Supreme Court of Canada was not just a special experience, it was a life-changing one. The opportunity to assist a (legendary!) justice of the SCC, to work on some of the most challenging legal questions of the day, to observe the inner functioning of one of Canada鈥檚 most important federal institutions, and to meet and befriend so many incredible fellow clerks, was an unimaginable privilege. I can鈥檛 pick one fond memory, as I have an entire year鈥檚 worth of them!鈥�
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Shantona Chaudhury is a founding partner at Pape Chaudhury LLP, and practices civil, commercial, and public litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. Her experience spans a wide variety of areas, including civil and commercial litigation, class actions, administrative law, constitutional law, public inquiries, and national security law.听
Shantona was lead commission counsel to the two most recent federal commissions of inquiry: the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Process and Democratic Institutions (the Hogue Commission) from 2023-2025, and the Public Order Emergency Commission (the Rouleau Commission) from 2022-2023.
In 2025, Shantona received the Honsberger Award from the Toronto Lawyers Association, and in 2023 she received the Laidlaw Medal from The Advocates Society, both in recognition of outstanding achievement by a mid-career lawyer.
Shantona has considerable expertise in appellate litigation, having acted in over 40 appeals at the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. She also appears regularly before trial courts and administrative tribunals.
Shantona acts as amicus curiae to the Federal Court, and the Federal Court of Appeal in national security matters, and is appointed to the roster of security-cleared Special Advocates.
Shantona is ranked in Chambers Canada, Lexpert, Benchmark (Top 100 Women in Litigation) and Best Lawyers (2021 鈥淟awyer of the Year鈥� in Appellate Practice). She is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and an honorary member of the Commercial Bar Association of England and Wales (COMBAR).
Since 2021, Shantona has been the co-Executive Director of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, a national non-profit organization offering advocacy training to counsel appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Born and bred in Montr茅al, Shantona is called to the Bar in Ontario and Qu茅bec (2007) and is fluently bilingual in French and English. In addition to her 好色TVl Law degrees, she has a BCL from Oxford, and an MA & BAH from Queen鈥檚 University. Before starting practice, she clerked for Justice Ian Binnie, trained as a Middle Temple Fox Scholar in London, interned at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, interned at the Parliament of Canada, and worked in the music industry.
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Vinay Shandal, BCL/LLB鈥�03
Clerk for the Hon. Justice Morris Fish, BCL鈥�62, LLD鈥�01, in 2003-2004
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I clerked for Justice Fish. It was Justice Fish鈥檚 first year on the bench, and I found it interesting to see how he adjusted to the new setting and colleagues, and calibrated how he wanted to engage. The best part of being a clerk is the other clerks. They鈥檙e a wonderful bunch of people, all deeply passionate about the law and deeply committed to the important work of the Court. I have fond memories of late-night debates at the Court about a full range of issues with this esteemed group, many of whom I am proud to count as close friends to this day.听
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Vinay Shandal is Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group, where he leads the global sustainable investing business for the firm.听
Vinay has helped leading pools of capital (pension, sovereign wealth, private equity, infrastructure, and real estate funds) across the globe on strategy, transaction support, and portfolio value creation. Most recently, he has helped a leading investor launch a first-of-its-kind digital incubator for its portfolio companies.
In 2018, he delivered a TED@BCG talk titled . He explained how conscious investing, when done right, can solve contemporary issues and help companies improve our society. The thought-provoking presentation has amassed nearly 60K views on YouTube.
Vinay is a core member of BCG鈥檚 Centre for Canada鈥檚 Future. In that role, he helps move Canada forward by providing insight and expertise on the country鈥檚 most important issues. The centre also aims to convene leaders from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to work together to achieve impact.
Before he joined BCG, Vinay practiced law for several years in the New York offices of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His legal experience includes both private and public company mergers, acquisitions, strategic alliances, and investments in a range of industries.
Vinay is a board member of Capitalize 4 Kids, a nonprofit that aims to solve the toughest challenges in children's brain and mental health.
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Martin Valasek, BCL鈥�98, LLB鈥�98
Clerk for the Hon. Justice Gonthier, BCL'51, LLD'90, in 1998-1999
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鈥淚 made lifelong friendships with several other clerks and took away a sense that, for a short while, I played a part 鈥攁n admittedly small part 鈥� of the governance of our great country. I have fond memories of playing poker with Justice Major and a handful of other clerks, and helping Justice Gonthier prepare a speech he delivered in Mexico City on arbitration and the rule of law 鈥� an experience that introduced me to the field to which I would end up dedicating my career, namely international arbitration.鈥�
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Martin J. Valasek is Co-Head of the International Arbitration Practice Group at Bennett Jones, a leading Canadian full-service law firm.听
He is a top practitioner in the area of international arbitration, with extensive experience in both investor-state and commercial contract disputes. He regularly acts as counsel and also sits as an arbitrator.
Martin earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard College (A.B. 1991) and his law degrees at the Faculty of Law of 好色TV (LL.B./B.C.L. 1998), where he was editor-in-chief of the 好色TVl Law Journal. He clerked for Mr. Justice Gonthier of the Supreme Court of Canada before embarking on a career in arbitration and litigation. Prior to joining the new Montreal office of Bennett Jones in 2023, Martin worked for White & Case (in New York City, Prague and Paris) between 1999-2003 and Norton Rose Fulbright (and its predecessor Ogilvy Renault, in Montreal) between 2003 and 2023.
Martin鈥檚 experience in international dispute-resolution extends to legal systems on all continents and covers a wide range of industries, including energy, mining, construction, forestry, aerospace, banking, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. He has provided winning guidance to clients, in both transactions and disputes, under all of the leading rules, including the ICC, LCIA, ICSID and UNCITRAL rules, and other institutional and ad hoc regimes. He has also acted in expert determination proceedings involving complex technical and tax issues. He has acted as arbitrator and tribunal secretary in several important arbitrations, including the multi-billion-dollar Yukos arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty.
Martin consistently receives top rankings and recognitions. He has been recognized as 鈥淏and 1鈥� for arbitration by Chambers & Partners for over a decade and was named to Global Arbitration Review鈥檚 鈥�45 under 45鈥� list of leading global practitioners in the field of international arbitration in 2011.
Martin is fluent in English, French and Czech, and has a working knowledge of Spanish. He is a frequent speaker, lecturer and contributor to various publications in his areas of practice.
