Joan Jack is Aanishinaabe, from the Berens River First Nation, which until 3 years ago was a fly-in community located approximately 270 air kilometres north of Winnipeg on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.

She is the eldest daughter of three children and lived in Berens River until she left home as a teenager for high school and then college/university. Though she left her home to further her education, Mrs. Jack has maintained a strong and clear dedication to her people, her community and land.

Joan completed the Business Teacher Education program at Red River College, which is a joint degree program with the University of Manitoba and upon the successful completion, she taught Technical Communication at the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Engineering and was also the Counsellor and Writing Instructor within the Engineering Access Program.

In 1991, Joan graduated from the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law and immediately took a job with Taku River Tlingit First Nation in Atlin, B.C.  In her role as Lands & Resources Director, she put her newly acquired legal skills to use negotiating the Aboriginal Fisheries Management Agreement worth 1.6 million and observed the Yukon Self-Government Agreement, the Canada/USA Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations and several other land claims negotiations. She also participated in the discussions during both the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord Conferences.  While working for the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, Joan also continued to teach such courses as Intro to Native Studies, Business Communication, and Introduction to Management Principles at the Northern Lights College Campus in Atlin, BC.

Joan returned to Manitoba in 1995 to complete the Manitoba Bar courses and articled with Jack London, then of Buchwald Asper Galleghar Henteliff (now Pitblado) for six months and with Reese Jones of Jones Lofchick Jones and Associates for the remaining 6 months.  Joan was called to the Manitoba Bar in June of 1996 and remains a member in Good Standing.

As an Aboriginal Governance Advisor from 1992 to present, she has developed and delivered a two-day Aboriginal Worldview Seminar to over 200 participants and has also worked on constitutional drafting for First Nation governments. Helping to develop governments with her people is an experience she describes as both an honour and a privilege and is work she continues today.

In addition, in 1997, she and her husband started the Nakina Centre for Aboriginal Living and Learning and still operate a Summer Youth Program every summer that involves a 30 km hike in and out to the river through the mountains and life on the river for eleven weeks where the children and youth live and learn life skills, wilderness survival skills, traditional food preparation skills, leadership skills and team work skills.  www.nakinacall.ca

Joan Jack Law Office was also opened in 2003 specializing in Indigenous, First Nation, Aboriginal & Treaty Rights with a small General Practice, including IRSSA IAP Claims.   Joan Jack Law Office filed the first Indian Day School (IDS) Class Action in 2009, which was taken over by Gowlings in 2017 and settled by that firm without her involvement in 2019 for worth 1.27 billion.  Gowlings received $55 million in legal fees and Joan has not been paid.  Her work on the IDS Class Action caused the end of Joan Jack Law Office after which she joined Alghoul Law & Associates.  In December 2022, Joan joined Napoli Law Canada, which is a class action firm originating out of New York City that has opened offices in Canada.

Finally, Joan is always busy creating and doing what she loves, which is working with/for her people!  She also sews traditional clothing, does her own beadwork and prepares traditional foods such as dry moose meat and salmon!

Adam Bordignon is an Associate at Napoli Shkolnik Canada’s Hamilton office. He advocates for individuals and communities victimized by discriminatory systems, environmental injustices, and predatory corporations.

Before joining Napoli, Adam articled at Ecojustice where he worked on some of Canada’s most complex and high profile environmental legal issues. While at Ecojustice, Adam developed an intricate understanding of the intersections between Aboriginal and environmental law which allowed him to help Indigenous communities assert their rights in the face of government and corporate interference.

Adam received his law degree from the University of Ottawa where he graduated Cum Laude. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 2023.

In the News

• Lawyers raise concerns after UBCO offer money to displaced residents (July 3, 2024)
• Class-action lawsuit claims Exshaw cement plant creates environmental, health hazards, Rocky Mountain Outlook (December 11, 2023)
• Lawsuit alleging health hazards targets Exshaw concrete works, PiPa News (December 10, 2023)
• Class-action lawsuit alleging health hazards filed against Exshaw cement plant, Calgary Herald (December 9, 2023)
• Neighbours of Lafarge Canada Cement Plant Launch Legal Action over Dust and Noise, Express Healthcare Management (December 9, 2023)

Clint has extensive civil litigation experience and has provided precedent-setting cases in the Alberta Court of King’s Bench and other Provincial Trial Courts; the Alberta Court of Appeal and other Provincial Courts of Appeal; the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada.

He has extensive experience in mass tort and class action litigation and is one of the leading class action litigators in Canada.

In Alberta, Clint has acted as counsel in a number of major mass tort actions including the Provincial Training School (Sterilization) and Indian Residential School cases, Hepatitis C (tainted blood), and the Bre-X litigation. He has also participated in a number of significant class actions including Menu Foods, Maple Leaf Foods, and XL Foods.

In other provinces across Canada, Clint has been involved in some of the earliest class actions litigated, including breast implants and jaw implants. Clint has also acted as counsel in the YBM, Stadol, and Entran settlements, as well as the Mount Herbert Institutional Abuse Claim.

Clint was class counsel in the Medicentre privacy breach Class Action involving over 600,000 Albertans.

Clint regularly lectures on Class Actions across Canada

Clint has resided in the Bragg Creek area with his family since 1975, where he has been extensively involved in community activities over the years.