During his tenure, he played a key role in modernizing the court
Chief justice Geoffrey B. Morawetz of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario is set to retire on May 15 after nearly seven years in the role.
Morawetz has been a judge for over 21 years, having been appointed to the bench in 2005. For four years, he led the team on Toronto’s Commercial List, which handles complex commercial issues. He became Toronto’s regional senior justice on December 18, 2013.
He was named chief justice on July 1, 2019 and spearheaded initiatives to modernize the court during the COVID-19 pandemic. He supervised the introduction of e-filing through Justice Services Online and encouraged the use of video for remote court appearances. He managed the rollout of commercial grade technology into courtrooms as well as the adoption of Courts Digital Transformation, which introduced to the court a comprehensive and integrated filing, case management, and hearing management platform.
Morawetz initiated the Civil Rules Review alongside attorney general Doug Downey to evaluate the Rules of Civil Procedure with the intent of improving the effectiveness, relevance, responsiveness, and timeliness of civil proceedings.
As a private practitioner for 25 years, he focused on insolvency and restructuring law. He is a fellow of the Insolvency Institute of Canada and the American College of Bankruptcy.
Morawetz has been advising the Canadian delegation at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law – Insolvency Law since 2008. He is part of the INSOL International and The International Insolvency Institute.
He chairs the Judicial Insolvency Network, which fosters communications and cooperation among national courts in cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters. In 2012, he received the Distinguished Service Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Bar Association’s national insolvency section.
Morawetz has thrice been named as one of Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers – in 2011, 2014, and 2025.
