Nathanson currently serves as a deputy Crown attorney in North York
Attorney General Doug Downey recently announced the appointment of Richard Nathanson as a new judge of the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto, effective October 20.
Nathanson began his legal career as a defence lawyer and duty counsel before joining the North York Crown Attorney’s Office in 2000. Since then, he has prosecuted various criminal offences, including property offences, impaired driving, sexual assault and murder, before the Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court of Justice. Moreover, he led the domestic violence team from 2009 to 2011 and 2014 to 2015. In April 2021, he was appointed as a deputy Crown attorney.
He was selected as one of the first six regional sexual violence Crowns in Ontario and became part of the Sexual Violence Advisory Group. He spent four years providing advice and guidance to prosecutors and police across the province and developing a mentorship program and best practices manual covering all aspects of sexual violence prosecutions.
He is involved with Level Justice Indigenous Youth Outreach Program, where he supports mentorship and learning opportunities in the justice sector for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth. In 1998, he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in Ecuador and Bolivia.
Besides his legal duties, he participates annually in the Ride to Conquer Cancer and has played in the Ontario Hydro Hockey League and coached youth baseball in Toronto.
The Ontario Court of Justice is one of two trial courts in Ontario (together with the Superior Court of Justice) that make up the Court of Ontario. The Ontario Court of Justice comprises provincially appointed judges and justices of the peace.
The Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee helps the provincial government select judges. JAAC was formally established on February 28, 1995, by proclamation of the Courts of Justice Act amendment passed in 1994.
