JUSTICE Minister and Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti, on Monday announced the appointment of Andrew Pinto, a partner at Pinto James LLP in Toronto,  as a judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario under the judicial application process established in 2016.

Pinto is a 2008 recipient of a Lawyer of the Year Award from the South Asian Bar Association Toronto. He was born in Pakistan, the youngest of five children, to parents of Indian origin. He moved to Canada at the age of 11 after living in the Middle East. Pinto and his spouse, Joseph Cheng, a lawyer with the Department of Justice Canada, have two children.  

Pinto practised civil litigation, workplace law and administrative law. He obtained an Electrical Engineering degree from Queen’s University and an LL.B. from the University of Windsor in 1993.

Called to the Bar in 1995, Pinto practised with Scott & Aylen Toronto before opening his own practice in 1998. He was a partner with Eberts Symes Street Pinto & Jull LLP and Pinto James (formerly Pinto Wray James) LLP. He has appeared before all levels of court including the Supreme Court of Canada, and before numerous administrative tribunals. He taught administrative law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and guest lectured at several other Canadian universities. Since 2007, he has been Co-Chair of the University of Toronto’s Academic Integrity Tribunal.

In 2011, Pinto was appointed by the Attorney General of Ontario to conduct a major review of the changes to Ontario’s human rights system. In 2018, he was appointed Chair of the Board of Governors of the Law Commission of Ontario after serving on the Commission’s Board since 2012.

Pinto is a 2018 recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Windsor.